The Stepford Wives

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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. One of the biggest issues that women continue to face is objectification. You see this a lot when sexist dudes talk about women, reducing them to their parts ("grab some p*ssy," "Tits or GTFO"), or talking about them as if they are trophies to be won for their accomplishments ("I'm such a nice guy, so why don't I have a girlfriend?"). It's gotten better, but not nearly as much as it should have, and one of the more chilling aspects for me is how modern STEPFORD WIVES feels, despite being published in 1972. I don't know about you, but it doesn't speak very highly towards our society that we're still being plagued by the same exact issues almost fifty years later. Especially since the chilling climax of this book is objectification in the ultimate sense: taking living, breathing women and replacing them with actual objects: in this case, robots. I feel that this is one of the best. Fun it is not. It is very rare that one reads a book with such a strong sense of doom as the Stepford wives. If you are here, you probably already either read the book, or watched the movie and want to read about the differences. In which case you don’t need a summary, but in the off chance you’re reading this and don’t know, this is for you.

The Stepford Wives Quotes by Ira Levin - Goodreads The Stepford Wives Quotes by Ira Levin - Goodreads

Definition of 'Stepford wife' ". collinsdictionary.com. HarperCollins . Retrieved December 2, 2017. Joanna Eberhart has just moved from New York City to the suburban town of Stepford with her husband, Walter, and their two kids. The houses here are beautiful, but the women who live here are all old-fashioned and emotionally distant, and they only seem to care housework and pleasing their husbands. Joanna is a member of the National Organization for Women, and she’s used to spending time with likeminded feminists. Walter is also quite involved in the feminist movement. Joanna is surprised, then, when Walter announces that he’ll be joining the local Men’s Association. Joanna thought he agreed that all-male clubs are outdated and sexist, but he promises to change the organization from the inside. As the story progresses, Joanna becomes convinced that the wives of Stepford are being poisoned or brainwashed into submission by the men's club. She visits the library and researches the pasts of Stepford's wives, discovering that some of the women were once feminist activists and very successful professionals and that the leader of the men's club is a former Disney engineer and others are artists and scientists, capable of creating lifelike robots. Her friend Bobbie helps her investigate, going so far as to write to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to inquire about possible toxins in Stepford. However, eventually, Bobbie is also transformed into a docile housewife and has no interest in her previous activities. The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a photographer and young mother who suspects the submissive housewives in her new idyllic Connecticut neighborhood may be robots created by their husbands. In a March 27, 2007, letter to The New York Times, Levin said that he based the town of Stepford on Wilton, Connecticut, where he lived in the 1960s. Wilton is a "step" from Stamford, a major city lying 15 miles (24km) away. [2] Plot [ edit ]

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Levin graduated from the Horace Mann School and New York University, where he majored in philosophy and English.

The Stepford Wives Characters | GradeSaver The Stepford Wives Characters | GradeSaver

The Stepford Wives" is a true horror story as it counts down inexorably to the end; it's impossible not to feel Joanna's heart-pounding terror as she tries to flee the town (an attempt that resonates all too wel Once arriving home Walter tells her that the kids are at a friend’s house. She asks where they are because she is going to take them with her and drive to stay at a friend’s house in the city. She and Walter argue, and he tells her to go rest in the bedroom, which she begrudgingly does. After being up there a short while, she sneaks downstairs and hears Walter in the den talking on the phone. He has taken her purse and keys, so she escapes outside and runs around town trying to figure out where to go. In the original, it made it seem pretty clear that the men moved into Stepford knowing what it was all about and choosing it because they wanted to change their spouse. In this movie, they moved to Stepford for no specific reason and Walter has no idea the secret being kept there. The movie (1975) is a great adaptation. Katharine Ross plays a convincing Joanna, but Paula Prentiss perfectly nails Bobbie and is the absolute best of the movie by far; so crazy, and utterly adorable. Not nearly as good as the book, but very faithful, several direct quotes can be found all through the film. An ending that goes a bit beyond the original work, and possibly gives a more satisfying answer to the mystery.

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Bobbie smiled at her. 'Nothing's got me,' she said. 'There's nothing around. That was a lot of nonsense. Stepford's a fine healthful place to live.' The most terrifying thing about the Stepford men isn't that they objectify their wives into sex-slaves and cleaning-bots; no, the most terrifying thing about the Stepford men is that they don't *seem* like the kind of men who would do that sort of thing. They don't seem overly boorish or loutish or medieval in their thinking; the men help with the housework and give lip service to equality with their protestations that they intend to "change from the inside" the men-only Men's Association. Terrifying, too, is the fact that these men weren't somehow brought up believing that turning their wives into automatons is the right way to live; the Men's Association has been around for a mere six or seven years, and in that short time *every* man in Stepford has signed on to the barbaric replacement of their human wives with mindless servants. Not a single man in Stepford has refrained from turning his wife into an unthinking sex-bot, and based on Joanna's newspaper findings we cannot soothe ourselves with the thought that perhaps the more principled men moved away with their families. a b Arrow, Michelle. " 'Suburban living did turn women into robots': why feminist horror novel The Stepford Wives is still relevant, 50 years on" . Retrieved July 28, 2022. 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.

Stepford Wives by Ira Levin Plot Summary | LitCharts The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin Plot Summary | LitCharts

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! There's a frightening secret in the town of Stepford, and Joanna & Bobbie hope to get out of Dodge before it's too late, but the Men's Association is powerful and time is running out.While there, Joanna befriends Bobbie (played by Bette Midler). Rather than the two of them befriending Charmaine, they befriend a gay guy names Robert. The three of them are the only normal ones and wonder what the deal is with the others. In Levin’s book, ‘real’ women are a bit messy around the edges. They don’t always have time to clean house, cook from scratch or be perfectly made-up – and that’s OK. The Men of Stepford want "real" women...but they also don't want flawed, forgetful women who sometimes let themselves go and don't want to do all the housework. They want the women of their fantasies made real: they want Pygmalion.

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

Both women suspect something disturbing is happening to the women in Stepford, unlike in Norwood and other towns nearby. Joanna comments: Monson-Rosen, Madeleine (March–April 2016). "Review: Stepford Wives and Sexbots" (PDF). The Women's Review of Books. Old City Publishing, Inc. 33 (2): 23–25. JSTOR 26433217. That’s what she was, Joanna felt suddenly. That’s what they all were, all the Stepford wives: actresses in commercials, pleased with detergents and floor wax, with cleansers, shampoos, and deodorants. Pretty actresses, big in the bosom but small in the talent, playing housewives unconvincingly, too nicey-nice to be real.” Por alguna razón esto está identificado como una novela de terror, pero yo lo encontré mucho más cercano a un thriller psicológico, y uno muy bueno. De ritmo muy rápido, y con un golpe directo y certero. Muy corto, pero extremadamente atrapante. Todo transcurre tan rápido que termina antes de que te des cuenta. Un final algo demasiado abierto para mi gusto, pero dentro de todo bienvenido. Joanna hace una estupenda heroína, y Bobbie una adorable e hilarante compañera. Un montón de referencias feministas también, que serán debidamente investigadas a su tiempo. Recomendable.

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In a 1987, a television sequel/remake titled The Stepford Children, both the wives and the children of the male residents were replaced by drones. It ended with the members of the conspiracy being killed. Housework’s enough for me. I used to feel I had to have other interests, but I’m more at ease with myself now. I’m much happier too, and so is my family. That’s what counts, isn’t it?” Another way of reading The Stepford Wives is as a commentary on consumerism, and how non-conformity is a threat to that way of life and doing business. The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical "feminist horror" [1] novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife and young mother who suspects that something in Stepford's environment is changing the wives from free-thinking, intelligent women into compliant wives dedicated solely to homemaking. As her friends slowly transform Joanna realizes the horrific truth.