What does soap opera mean?

Answer 1

Soap Operas are ongoing "dramatic" stories that were originally geared toward the women who do not work outside of the home. Most women at the time of the shows' inception did not work outside the home. Therefore, advertising was geared toward that audience, as well -- laundry detergent, dish detergent, cleaning products. As such, the name Soap (detergent) Opera (ongoing dramatic story) came to be.

Answer 2

It is a television drama.

Soap operas began on the radio, in an era when most married women did not work outside the home. They were broadcast around the middle of the day when these women were at home alone, their husbands and children being away at work and school. And since these stay-at-home moms usually did all the dishes and laundry during the day, the manufacturers of bath, dishwashing, and laundry soaps advertised heavily during these programs.

This type of storytelling depended on complex relationships between characters, exaggerated emotions and long story arcs that encouraged the listener to tune in every day in order to follow the plot. Because of this stereotype, "soap opera" can also be used to describe a situation in which someone is reacting in an overly dramatic fashion, or in which long-standing personal issues are having a negative effect on a group of people.