The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 January 2005
by Ira Levin
What is the perfect wife? What about the perfect housewife? In 1972, this was a hot topic of conversation, both personal and national. This book came along at just the right moment for its own popularity to be assured. Joanna is our protagonist, recently moved to the suburban town of Stepford. She has trouble making friends, but manages to find two like-minded women. But the majority of the women in the town are, well, Stepford Wives. The term has become part of our lexicon, referring, in general, to the stereotypically vacuous lives presumably lived by suburban soccer moms. Over the generation since the book appeared, the political position of women in our society has changed. Can we even imagine, in today's political environment, the very idea of amending the constitution to assure women's rights? The Equal Rights Amendment failed, after overwhelmingly passing in the Senate, when it fell just three states short of ratification. The Stepford Wives are the reaction by the men in Stepford to the radicalization of the women in their lives. Men create these robotic dream women, sexually exciting at night, but obsessive house-cleaners by day. Joanna discovers that the strangeness she percieves originated shortly after Betty Friedan appeared at a women's club meeting in Stepford. But can she do anything, expose any of its horror, before it becomes to late for her? Even today, our advertising is aimed at this automaton housewife, putting forth images of happy women singing about floor wax and disposable floor mops. Is this a feminist book? Is it political? Yes and no. It certainly takes advantage of a political and feminist viewpoint for the benefit of its suspenseful story line. It is a zippy story, a book that can be read in one sitting, and cinematic in its layout. Not surprising given the number of Ira Levin books that have become big movies over the years.