This International Women’s Day we beg soaps: please do better for your women!

It’s International Women’s Day! But sadly the message of the day, which celebrates women’s achievements as well as promoting equality doesn’t seem to have reached Walford, Weatherfield or Emmerdale.

The soaps are built on strong women. They tell women’s stories. Their female characters are legendary. And let’s be honest, while we all know men who love a bit of soapy drama, a majority of the viewers are women too.

Back in 2019, Emmerdale aired a special all-female episode for International Women’s Day. The episode only featured female characters, was written, directed and produced by women, and even had an “almost entirely female” crew.

But how things have changed!

Tracy’s past comes back to haunt her this International Women’s Day

In last night’s Emmerdale, viewers watched Tracy Robinson launch her new forest nursery. She’d done all her homework, prepared for every eventuality, and was ready for anything.

Except Ruby.

In disappointing scenes, Ruby Miligan, who’s out for revenge after her estranged-at-the-time-husband slept with Tracy, lashed out.

Or rather, she got Caleb to do her dirty work for her. He stood up in front of the parents who were thinking about sending their precious offspring to Little Hoppers, and trashed poor Tracy’s reputation. He shamed her for her past as a sex worker, forcing her to admit she had taken money for sex when she was desperate.

And in a viciously misogynistic rant, he managed to blame her entirely for their affair and imply she wasn’t fit to look after kids.

Ruby finished off by insulting Dawn for her past, too.

Not great.

Rhona’s not the villain

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the village, Rhona’s still licking her wounds after being painted an unstable, hysterical villain for *checks notes* taking in the baby she didn’t even know about or want when her dad couldn’t look after her, keeping the baby fed, warm and happy, and then being annoyed when the dad rocked up again and announced he was moving hundreds of miles away. Immediately.

AND then he tried to fleece poor Rhona all over again.

Hmm, we know who the villain is here, and it’s not Rhona!

Belle’s abuse

Coercive control is a real issue and done well in soaps, it can raise awareness of what can be an invisible form of domestic abuse. Remember Geoff in Coronation Street and his campaign to break wife Yasmeen? It started small, and became more and more sinister, while Geoff remained the life and soul of the party to everyone who knew him – charming, funny and a real catch.

We can’t help thinking, though, that Belle’s situation is a bit different. For a start, Tom King isn’t charming – he’s grumpy and unpleasant to everyone, not just poor Belle. He’s gone from 0-60 in his nastiness even before the ink was dry on the wedding certificate. In short, there seems to be no good side to him! And Belle herself is no people pleaser. She’s been through a LOT in her young life and she’s not – normally at least – afraid to stand up for herself. It’s a great story, but is it the wrong character?

Leanne Battersby

Another fierce woman is Leanne Battersby in Coronation Street. She’s been through the death of her son, Oliver, several failed marriages, a vendetta from a murderous drug dealer and she’s still standing. But despite all that, for the last few weeks, all Leanne has talked about is weddings. YAWN.

Kat Slater needs a win this International Women’s Day

Yes, we get it. EastEnders‘ Kat has had a hard time. She’s damaged, admittedly, after her childhood abuse and the other awful things that have happened to her. But why WHY does she have to lose every time? Let’s see her overcome her past and come out on top, just once. How nice would that be?

The Six

Putting six Walford queens up front and centre of a storyline that lasted almost a year, was a stroke of genius, but the aftermath has been – well, disappointing to say the least.

And now Jack Branning seems more at the heart of the story than wife Denise, while she’s away being treated after her breakdown, and Johnny Carter has swooped in and taken control for his mum, Linda.

And don’t even get us started on Sharon’s whereabouts…

Bianca Jackson

Remember how BRILLIANT Bianca Jackson always used to be? Funny and not afraid to tell it as she saw it. So we were all very excited about her return, only to feel like it was a bit flat.

Bianca barely featured in the odd Milton Keynes episodes this week. She put chicken nuggets in the oven, and that was about it. No news about what she was doing, where she’d been working, what had led to her break up from long-term partner, Terry. What a wasted opportunity for an iconic character.

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