stereotypes linked to gender

Within all soaps there will be one maybe two or even more 'Matriarchs/ Patriarchs' these are those dominant male and female characters who revolve around nearly all of the story lines within a soap.
Here an example i have found:
  Phil Mitchel has been in Eastenders since 1990 and is a very strong Patriarch and will continue to be a dominant character until he retires.

Other male characters will try to follow within phil's footsteps, by this i am relating to the fact that all men think they are 'the man' but when it comes down to it they can insecure and weak.

Female characters -  within soaps are very similar to male characters but they tend to 'gossip' allot more which keeps the audience interested and peeled to the screens. Almost perhaps relating to when we or you had gossip in the past. A female character within a soap will also try to use their good looks to get them to higher places.
They are usually the key structure which holds the household together and in some cases like Peggy Mitchel who keep the business together, this just shows that although they may connote Beauty and a fragile sense of mind they are actually perhaps the real bread winners on the block.