Exploring Young Men Gender Constructions - The Asian Media ...

and “Felicity”, school dramas; “Wonder Years”, a family drama; “Buffy” and
“Charmed”, supernatural dramas; and “Robotech”, a science fiction cartoon serial. More
recently, Argentina gave them “Monica Brava” (Monica The Brave), South Korea
delivered “Irene” (The Mermaid) and Cantonese China sold the phenomenal “Meteor
Garden”. The Filipino-dubbed Spanish, South Korean and Chinese serial dramas continue
to invade Philippine airwaves and serial dramas continue to fill Philippine primetime
programming with more and more soap operas. But for most people in the academe and
research, there was only the female audience for such programs. “Kasari-sarian ng
Kalalakihan (The Multiplicity of Manhood): Exploring Young Men’s Gender
Constructions and Their Serial Drama Connections” was able to recognize that research
work has been limited in its study of the genre as much as it has been limited in its
assumption, if not knowledge, of television audiences, especially in a society such as the
Philippines. The connection between male audiences and serial dramas lies deeper
than a desire for entertainment. It lies at the very core of a man’s being – in the
union of his mind and heart - in his gender - which society helps construct.
This pursuit to determine the breadth and depth of connections between the
gender constructions of male serial drama viewers and the serial drama they prefer and
consume, involved male college students from three types of higher educational
institutions, enrolled in mass communication courses and recommended by their
academic heads and peers. Mass Communication students were sought since their
storytelling capacities may point to future directions in television narratives should they
successfully penetrate the television industry after graduation. Using a qualitative