1960년대 일본의 낮시간대 TV 멜로드라마와 젠더 정치

Daytime TV melodrama and Gender Politics in 1960s Japan

After the success of Fuji TV’s Nichinichi no haishin in 1960, TV stations concentrated melodramas that depicted extramarrital affairs and tragic romance at 1pm time slot to grasp the hearts of housewife viewers. This popularity of the afternoon TV melodramas had much to do with the creation of the middle class society that was represented by the contruction of ‘danchi’ apartment complexes. During the Cold War, the “free world” made great efforts to create middle class societies in suburbia because the lifestyle of the new suburban middle class became the centerpiece of the ideological effort of the capitalist societies. Japanese government also strove to create a strong middle class society through the construction project of the ‘danchi’ apartment. In the newly created middle class society, housewives were often described as queens in the home who efficiently managed household, using a variety of consumer electronics offered by the capitalism. Through “New Life Movement,” postwar Japanese government and corporations emphasized the central role of housewives in the construction of rational and modern households. However, real life housewives suffered despair and solitude when they faced the reality where they had to perform their domestic role given by the postwar society without any help. This situation created a fertile ground for the popularity of TV melodramas. Helped by the everyday scheduling that encouraged habitual watching, afternoon melodramas invited housewives to romantic daydreams. However, these melodramas failed to offer criticism on and resistance against the existing family system and gender role while presenting female protagonists as victims of the situation or the bearers of ultimate maternal virtues.