It’s Only My Opinion: How Soaps Are Portraying Women Like GH’s Tracy, B&B’s Hope and BTG’s Dani
We need to talk about the portrayal of women on soaps. Some are all “I am woman, hear me roar!” while others are rolling back the clock to butter churning and husband hunting.
It’s painful to watch the latter in 2025. There’s Bold and Beautiful’s Hope Logan, in her mid-30s with five marriages behind her, asking her mother for marital advice.
Hope: “Who do you think I should spend my life with, Carter or Liam?”
Brooke: “I admire both men. As wonderful as Carter has been, there have been some difficult times. You and Liam have a wonderful history, even though there have been some painful times.”
Yes, love can be wonderful and painful. Thanks, Brooke.
I realize she’s Hope’s mother, but a woman who has just gotten married for the 16th time is probably not the best person to turn to for counsel. And in what universe does Hope basically flip a coin to decide who she should “spend her life with”? From what we’ve seen the last few years, Hope doesn’t love Carter or Liam; she burns for that lunatic Thomas Forrester — the guy who bullied their son Douglas, framed Brooke, and seems to have disappeared again.
Taylor has prostrated herself (in every sense of the word and in every recast incarnation) over Ridge for decades. And don’t get me started on Luna stalking, raping, and getting pregnant by Will Spencer to try and rope him into marriage/saving her from jail.
B&B is a tough show for women who live in the present day. I focus on Katie’s strength battling through a heart transplant and single motherhood, and Steffy Forrester always vanquishing her enemies and standing up for herself. Hurry home, Steffy!
Young and Restless’ Claire has taken a page from Steffy’s playbook, asserting herself even if it costs her a man. She dumped Kyle hard, and he deserved it.
Claire: “This is what’s best for me. I need to get out into the world and live on my own for a while. Give me the room to do that.”
Kyle’s ego wouldn’t allow it, and once he learned Claire was going to Los Angeles to see Holden, it got worse. He accused her of using “I need to find myself” as an excuse to dump him and spend time with Holden, and decreed she was making a mistake.
Claire: “What’s my mistake? Making my own decisions? Or not abiding by your judgement?”
In the end, Kyle’s jealousy tanked him.
Claire: “I wonder if you’ll ever realize how much damage you did today.”
Onward, Claire!
Older women are usually portrayed more fairly because they’ve learned a thing or two along the way (we hope). General Hospital newcomer Veronica Bard came on as Monica’s long-lost sister, looking to pay her respects. Tracy was immediately suspicious and attacked her.
Tracy: “Why are you popping up now that Monica’s dead?”
Ronnie: “Do you usually greet visitors with hostility?”
Yes. Ronnie explained that she and Monica were separated as children and raised in foster care. Monica’s foster mom was Gail Baldwin (we watched the kindhearted Gail nurture that relationship in the late 1970s), but Tracy didn’t care, even though she knew Gail. Tracy Quartermaine is always entertaining, but her roar often goes too far — as it did when Ronnie showed up at Monica’s will reading and Tracy tried to throw her off the property.
Alexis (reciting Monica’s wishes): “As for the remainder of my estate, I leave it all to the cherished sister of my heart, Ms. Veronica Bard.”
Tracy: “Over my dead body!”
A room full of strong women works every time.
Days of Our Lives touched on that idea with Maggie, Julie, and Marlena trying to move on after their husbands died. There’s strength in numbers, ladies, and it’s empowering to watch.
But what can we say about desperate man-catcher Sophia? She tried to “steal” Tate from Holly with a baby he didn’t even father, and more recently took provocative photos of Holly while she was passed out and sent them to Johnny to create messiness for Holly with Tate and keep Johnny and Chanel from adopting her baby.
In a refreshing break, Johnny and Chanel worked together to figure out that Tesoro is Sophia’s baby, and Sophia did something underhanded with her pregnancy. The strong, confident Chanel believes in her husband and is standing by him.
Johnny: “You don’t remember sending those pictures?”
Chanel: “You’re claiming this whole thing is an accident?”
Holly: “I’m so embarrassed.”
Don’t be embarrassed, Holly. Be mad. She has 900 reasons to suspect Sophia of backstabbing her, yet she’s all, “Gee, I wonder how this happened.”
Is that butter churning I hear?
Beyond The Gates’s Hayley is exhibiting a similar approach to Sophia’s. She thinks if she can have a child with Bill, they will have the same “unbreakable bond” he shares with Dani because the two ex-marrieds have children together. Yeah, because getting pregnant always works when a desperate woman is trying to “keep” a man.
Bill: “You interrogate me 24/7 about my ex-wife.”
Hayley: “Because you won’t stop obsessing about her!”
Bill took Hayley upstairs to convince her otherwise and had trouble, um, proving his love. Bill called it a “passing incident,” and Hayley suggested he take pills. The regret on this man’s face about the life he lost with Dani is… *chef’s kiss*.
Which brings us to Dani Dupree. She’s a hot mess who owns it, from shooting up Bill’s wedding to Hayley (their daughter’s best friend) to drunk-marrying the much-younger Andre in Vegas. Her Achilles Heel is Bill, and she owns that, too. Dani loves getting in his face, reminding him of the rich life they had before he cheated.
Dani’s sudden marriage to Andre shocked Bill into realizing how much he still cares for her, to the point where he impulsively kissed her.
Bill: “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Dani: “But you did. Standard macho ownership: What was yours, stays yours.”
Bill: “I didn’t hear any objections.”
Dani: “Old habits. But I am changing those with the assistance of my new husband.”
The exes took a spirited walk down memory lane, and Dani owned that, too. Bill acknowledged lowering his guard when Chelsea was kidnapped, saying it was them against the world and calling Dani his “secret superpower in the storm.” Dani retorted that Bill shut her out after the crisis was over (on orders from his new wife), which was a knife to her heart. She now realizes Bill never gave her what she deserved.
Dani: “When you get less, you start to take less and think you’re worth less.”
The former Dani Hamilton has gotten her groove back. She told Bill she hasn’t felt this fearless since she was Dani Dupree.
Bill: “Nothing will ever replace us, Dani.”
Dani: “I became invisible to you years ago.”
She asserted that she now feels seen and loved by Andre and hit him with a zinger.
Dani: “I was always open to adopting another child. You didn’t have to marry one.”
Bill: “Jealousy, thy name is first wife.”
Dani: “She’s got nothing I need to envy: Worn the ring, had the children, gave you the ride of your life before she was in her training bra. There is nothing that woman could do that I haven’t already done — better.”
She is woman, hear her roar. Take a page, soap women!
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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