Since the release of Ira Levine's novel The Stepford Wives in 1972, popular culture has a new term for women who devote themselves entirely to pleasing their partners. Often used in a mocking manner, the origin for the term “Stepford Wive” is actually much darker. In the novel, the devotion of the wives is not given freely and, instead of mocking it, their husbands desire it. Therefore, it can be argued that the world of The Stepford Wives is a dystopian one from the female characters' point of view and a utopian one from the male characters's point of view. While it might be difficult to understand the mind-set of the male characters of Ira Levine's novel from the current social and cultural perspective, it was based on the very real reactions …show more content…
In the novel, instead of trying to understand the female point of view or the complex ways of socialization that teach the need for male superiority, the male characters seek to find a way to gain absolute control over their wives again. For them, this would create an ideal society, a small utopia, in the village of Stepford. As J.C. Davis explains, Thomas Moore first invented the word Utopia for the fictional island in his novel of the same name and it was meant to “allude to imaginary paradisiacal places” (Claeys 4). He created the word by borrowing from the Greek language, using ouk, meaning not, and topos, meaning place. Changing the words slightly and fusing them together, they became utopia, the non-place. (ibid. 4) Making the subject of utopia applicable to Levine's novel, The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature gives another possible meaning for the word. In a poem at the end of the novel Utopia, one of the characters gives characteristics of a utopian place. Two of those are that it is isolated from the known world and that “its inhabitants and its rules are so wonderful that it should be called Eutopia (the good place) instead of Utopia.” (ibid. 5) Both the meaning non-place and good place are very fitting to the kind of society the men in The Stepford Wives are trying to create. Stepford is …show more content…
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She goes on to say that she is to busy for these kinds of things, anyway, though the novel gives more than enough examples to show that all the women of Stepford do is housework. Despite his reassurances to his wife early in the novel, Walter soon seems to succumb to the allure of having a perfect, submissive wife. Dissatisfaction with his wife' sexual performance (ibid. 77) and her refusal to dress up or use make up on a daily basis ( ibid. 97) seem to be great motivators in changing him from being supportive of his wife's feminist causes to making him desire what all the other men have in the Men's Association: “[..] a lovely wife, […] pretty, helpful, submissive to her lord and master.” (ibid.
In Judy Brady’s essay, “I Want a Wife,” she examines why she would like to have a wife. Brady believes that a wife performs all house chores and the husband does nothing, but to expect the wife to do everything for him. Brady tries to persuade the reader to look at a husband viewpoint of what a wife should be. The essay was written during the early 1960’s, during the second wave of the feminist movement in America. Brady is pushed by certain reasons to write, “I Want a Wife” to show the humanist humor.
According to Webster Dictionary, the term “utopia” is defined as an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Sir Thomas More first used the word in the book Utopia in 1516. Both SQ and Harrison Bergeron showed us an anti-utopia world: individuals’ liberation was restricted by the dominator, and the whole human race was living in a community without faith. Alexander Dumas, the famous French writer, said: “Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.” SQ talked about all men must take the SQ test to be identical; Harrison Bergeron showed us an imaginary amendment restricted individuals’ characters, intelligences, and physical abilities. The scientist in SQ believed identicalness will shape the future for
According to Merriam-Webster, Utopia is an imaginary place where laws and social positions are perfect. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 and shows that anyone who decides to be a leader must be fair or their society will fail. Through the novel, it is shown that a true Utopian society can not exist because names are forgotten, corruption occurs after creation, and you can get lost in thoughts and dreams.
Walter’s believes in the beginning, of the book to be a man you have to be career oriented and making enough money to provide for your family. In the beginning of the book, Ruth is making eggs for Walter as they discuss what to do with the money from the life insurance. Ruth is focused on making breakfast while Walter is focused on how a man would respond as, “I got to change my life, I’m choking to death, baby!.” (37) The fact that it’s choking walter to death that he can not provide for his family and be successful without the life insurance money shows that his mainfocus is achieving for his family . Walter believes his family should not only have enough money to get by, but thinks they should have a surplus of material objects. Walter tells Mama, “sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool, quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ’bout things … sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars …”sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me.” (76) As Walter sees his opportunity start to pass he starts to see he need to start focusing on his career.
On the surface, women occupy a dominant role in the domestic politics of the novel. Robbie testifies to several ways in which this is true. First,
The idea of a ‘Utopia’ is captivating to many people. Utopia is defined as a “perfect society”, where there exist no flaws between relationships, economic standards, political standards, and more. Many stories feature caricatures of utopias, such as Harrison Bergeron.
Every black male's plight in America can be regarded as a provider for his family. However, society does not afford black males the benefit of feeling secure about providing for their families. It can be easy for anyone to criticize society and place the blame on America for not affording Walter the opportunities of his white counterparts. Walter does not have control over his own responsibilities. Therefore, if he was given all the resources needed to provide his family his poor judgement and lack of business sense would create further stress on the family. Ruth, Mama, and his sister Beanetha attack him from every angle about his doubtful ideals. Ironically, those ideals are what Walter needs to shape and justify his manhood. Without ideals and proper resources to obtain them, a man's existence can be regarded as insignificannot
Utopia is any state, condition, or place of ideal perfection. In Ursula LeGuin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" the city of Omelas is described as a utopia. "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" presents a challenge of conscience for anyone who chooses to live in Omelas.
For instance ,by adding, “I want a wife who will type my papers after I have written them,” Syfers depicts wives as more of employees than partners. She also adds, “I want a wife who will not demand sexul attention...and who understands that *my* sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy.” Syfers included this hyperbole not to say that all husbands were bound to have affairs, but to shock the reader and impress upon them that women were bound to their husbands and voiceless in the
Secondly, during the play Ruth is shown as a housewife who takes care of their son Travis, and is always cooking and cleaning for Walter. A prime example of Ruth is just being a lady who serves her man is when Walter is having George over and he tells her “ Why don’t you offer this man some refreshment. They don’t know how to entertain people in this house, man” (Hansberry 1488). Since Walter works all day driving around, he feels empowered to belittle his wife, and view her as a servant. Thus setting the expectation that women are just supporting roles to their husbands, and are meant to cater to the needs of the husband. Moreover, Ruth is relied on to get Walter and Travis ready for work and school. “Will someone listen to me today!” (Hansberry 1481). Ruth is therefore the caregiver for the family; she is heavily depended on to support her family, while her husband complains about getting the money to open up a liquor store with his friends or about driving his “white” boss around everywhere and being jealous because he isn't successful.
From the early 1960s through the late 1970s, the feminist movement in the United States had sought to transform the way society regarded women. At the height of the feminist movement in 1972, Judy Brady’s essay “I Want a Wife” was published in the premiere issue of the feminist Ms. magazine. Written in a satirical style, Brady intends to convince her audience to take the position of a man and the expectations he places on a wife. She effectively does this by disclosing to the audience her experience as a wife, as well as her vast background knowledge on the topic. Moreover, Brady appeals to the emotions of her audience by exaggerating the responsibilities a man expects of his wife and taking the perspective of a husband. Finally, the author uses repetition of key phrases to emphasize her idea of how men take advantage of their wives. Thus, Brady’s clever use of her own personal experience, emotions, and repetition of key phrases makes her essay strong and convincing to her audience.
Social or political issues of the time period can be portrayed in books or plays written during that time. One example is A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. This play portrays many social issues, for example the achievement of the American Dream and racial tension and discrimination. Sexism is another social issue that is prominent in A Raisin in the Sun. There are the gender stereotypes for both male and female.
When Brady classifies herself as “a wife and mother” she is automatically labeled with the responsibilities that were enforced by societal beliefs of that era (Brady 229). Women were considered inferior to men and struggled to gain equality. Husband's required too much of their wives as to their physical needs; “I want a wife to keep my house clean.” Their social needs, “When I meet people at school that I like and want to entertain, I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt when I talk about things that interest me and my friends.” In addition, their sexual needs, “I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that I am satisfied.” (Brady 229-230). Women did all these things everyday to please their husbands, although they received no fringe benefit in return. The cultural values that were viewed at this time emphasized the discrimination and equality that Brady desperately wants her audience to
At that time, gender roles in the family included the wife staying home with the kids, doing house work and married. The man of the house would be the breadwinner of the family and handle all the bills/payments. However, in the Younger household, almost everyone in the family works, except for Beneatha, who gets to go to college and try out different clubs. This often causes conflict between the family, but the main problem causing conflict is the $10,000 dollar check they are getting. Everyone in the family has dreams that they want to be accomplished, but only a few can get accomplished. As the man of the house, Walter feels that he should have all the money to work with, so he can open a liquor store and have more income for the family. However, his mom, Lena Younger, takes over that job because she does not want to have a liquor store on her conscience. In this example, Walter feels suppressed because he wants to have all the responsibility, but can not have it because his mom takes over for him. In another example, Walter tells Beneatha “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people – then go be a nurse like other women – or just get married and be quiet… (1.1.125)”. That quote is very reflective of the time period because Walter generalizes Beneatha to her assumed gender role, and Beneatha is hurt by this comment
Women have always had to fight for the same rights and treatment as men. In the early 20th century woman had barely any rights, now women are running states all around the United States. Society has always put women under men because men are stronger than women are. Therefore, an obedient housewife was the ideal woman in the early 20th century. In A doll's house by Henrik Ibsen mentions an audacious woman named Nora who stood up against her husband for the sake of her own happiness. An online Web page called The Stepford Wives organization was created to share their experiences with other women who are interested in the early 1900s lifestyle.