The Stepford Wives

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Things have changed a lot since since this book was written. But they haven’t changed as much as many would like. There are still many men who are terrified at the idea of female power in any form. It’s frequent, it’s pervasive and it is damn scary.

The Stepford Wives and feminist dystopia - The Haughty Culturist The Stepford Wives and feminist dystopia - The Haughty Culturist

Joanna Eberhart is the mother of two children and is married to Walter Eberhart. She is a woman who enjoys her personal hobbies such as tennis and is a professional photographer. In addition, she is active in “the Women’s Lib movement”. The story beings when she and her family move from New York City to the idyllic Stepford. Walter Eberhart I can handle watching or reading just about any level of horror... so what was it about this tiny little novella that I read in an hour that truly chilled me? First, I have never seen the movies... so I had no real preconceived notions other than having seen the commercials. Something about being a girl, who was raised in a society where everything tells you that you have to be beautiful, you have to be talented, and above all you have to be perfect or you are nothing... this book really taps into that mantra. The feeling that every little girl has that "I'm not good enough" most of us (hopefully) follow that up with "but at least I'm ME" and that is where the terror of this book lies. Anyway, in regard to the ’75 version, it stays incredibly true to the book. There are some difference of course, but still stays true to the integrity of the novel. Katherine Ross stars as Joanna and does a fine job. I think some scenes are stronger than others, but overall, she gives a solid performance. Paula Prentiss is Bobbie and does a good job capturing the free-spiritedness of the character. Although in the book it’s implied that Bobbie has some meat on her bones, whereas Prentiss is very thin. Both characters never wear a bra, when I was a kid watching this it made me uncomfortable that they made it so obvious. But watching it now I realize it’s done symbolically, showing they’re freedom and not conforming. It also highlights the fact that Joanna has very small breasts. When you see her as a robot, the breasts are shown and are of course are huge. The Book Ending Side note-Walter is played by Peter Masterson, father of actress Mary Stuart Masterson. She actually plays his daughter in this movie and then scene where they ask about why the parents are fighting, you get a clear view of young Mary Stuart Masterson!In the early 80s, I took a college course in feminist theory. That’s where I was introduced to the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, Kate Millet, and Betty Friedan. Little did I know that I could have saved myself a lot of time by reading The Stepford Wives instead. That night, Joanna, and she tells Walter about what Bobbie said. He thinks it sounds far-fetched, but he also wants to make sure Joanna is happy. For this reason, he says he would be open to moving at the end of the school year if Joanna were to decide that’s what she wants. She’s relieved, and though she starts accompanying Bobbie on house-hunting tours, she doubts she’ll actually end up wanting to move herself. The Stepford Wives study guide contains a biography of Ira Levin, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Similarly, contemporary TV ads like this beauty advert, have real women rush onto the beaches in plus-size bikinis. Real women, the message goes, are flawed but fabulous. The satire at work here is an allegorical one that is deeply rooted in the countercultural revolution linking the 1950’s to the 1970’s. “Women’s Lib” came of age in the 1960’s and really took firm hold in the years in which Levin was constructing his novel. Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, was one of the bibles of the feminist movement and she plays a major role in the events which take place before the arrival into Stepford of the story’s protagonist Joanna Eberhart. Her speech on feminism at the Stepford Women’s Club initiates the demise of the particular social organization and the beginning of the Stepford Man’s Association. The movement to take that Disney World animatronic technology which just so happens to have a connection to the men of Stepford and exploit it for the purpose of subjugating their wives into totally compliant sexbots with a fetish for housecleaning directly stems from a fear of losing hold on the patriarchal grip of control over the womenfolk.

The Stepford Wives Summary | GradeSaver The Stepford Wives Summary | GradeSaver

Levin's best known novel is Rosemary's Baby, a horror story of modern day satanism and the occult, set in Manhattan's Upper West Side. It was made into a film starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance. Roman Polanski, who wrote and directed the film, was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. I cannot remember or think of to many books that take the idea of marriage and drive an arrow through it as effectively as this book. And it is also important to note that the original movie is just like the book. I did love the remake and enjoyed it for what it was but it wasn’t close to being at the level of the original. Radical feminism defines the problem as the patriarchal nature of society itself. And Stepford is this patriarchy in microcosm. It is perpetuated from one generation to the next. When one of the wives’ behavior suddenly changes, turning her from a spitfire into a hausfrau, her young son approves of the change in his mother. Instead of missing her spunk, he welcomes her subservience.

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The idea behind this chilling social satire is nothing less than ingenious and that is why this book has achieved iconic status. Levin's first novel, A Kiss Before Dying, was well received, earning him the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. A Kiss Before Dying was turned into a movie twice, first in 1956, and again in 1991. A 1996 version called The Stepford Husbands was made as a third television movie with the gender roles reversed and the men in the town being brainwashed by a female clinic director into being perfect husbands.