The 1975 Paramount Films Production of The Stepford Wives takes place in an era during which men are the primary symbol of power and authority in the household, working hard and providing for their families. In their spare time they are active members of a gentlemen’s club which consists of lounging around, smoking cigars and babbling about their marriages, etc. On the other hand, the women are slaving away in their houses: cleaning, cooking and tending to their children. The Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, is repetitive in its mission to emphasize that women during this period were much like robots. These housewives have a monotonous daily routine in which they would drive their children to school, clean dishes, do the laundry, and cook family meals. This cycle repeats endlessly, leaving these women feeling oppressed, vacant and unfulfilled (Betty Friedan, pg. 27). When Bobbie is swiftly revamped into a modern day housewife, cleaning every speck of tile in her kitchen obsessively, she is displaying the typical modern housewife to which Betty Friedan is referring to. Bobbie operates much like that of a robot as she begins to repeat phrases continually and how she does not bleed when Joanna penetrates her with the kitchen knife.
(Last scene which takes place in the grocery store.
Source: Paramount Picture, 1975, The Stepford Wives. )
In addition to the role of housewife, according to The Feminine Mystique, women are directed on how to behave in society. They are educated to look down on other women of their class who aspire to have a higher education or who long for goals and ambitions to further their lives and careers (Betty Friedan, pg. 16). They are also advised to seek gratification through their duty as a mother and wife and to put other’s needs ahead of their own (Betty Friedan, pg. 1). Throughout the film Joanna is constantly taking photographs, taking her camera with her wherever she goes and looking for ways to improve upon her present works. Charmaine’s freedom and independence lies in her backyard where she takes pleasure in the game of tennis. However, her freedom and independence is demolished once she allows her husband to obliterate the tennis court, using the explanation that he never liked the game of tennis and so she relinquishes her happiness in order to please her husband.
The film takes an intensified twist during the altercation that quickly escalates between Joanna and her husband, Walter. In this generation of suburban life, women were taught to respect and follow their husbands demands. The Horror Film as a Social Allegory contests that women in horror films often feel ensnared and repressed by a controlling and manipulative male presence (Christopher Sharrett, pg. 60). During the screening of The Stepford Wives, Walter’s personality begins to shift progressively as he becomes more impatient and aggressive as seen when he smashes his glass and attempts to restrain Joanna. This scene clearly demonstrates the presence of male dominance in addition to Joanna’s entrapment.
(Joanna and Walter’s altercation on the stairs of their home.Source: Paramount Pictures, 1975, The Stepford Wives.)
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