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corner her in the woods, and she accuses them of creating robots out of the town's women. The men deny the accusation and ask Joanna if she would believe them if she saw one of the other women bleed. Joanna agrees and they take her to Bobbie's house. Bobbie's husband and son are upstairs, with loud rock music playing. The scene ends as Bobbie brandishes a knife at her former friend.
363:. While the script emphasis is on gender conflict and the sterility of suburban living, and thus the science fiction elements are only lightly explored, the movie still makes it much clearer than the book that the women are being replaced by some form of robot. Goldman's treatment of the book differed from that of Forbes, with the robots closer to an idealized
207:. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife, and young mother who suspects that something in the town of Stepford 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.
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and the control they have over their bodies by allowing the readers to observe what happens in
Stepford when Joanna moves in. Before the women in Stepford turned into lifeless, docile robots, they were avid activists and successful career women who had lives outside of being a wife. However, the men
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The term "Stepford wife" entered common use in the
English language after the publication of Levin's book. It is generally used as a derogatory term for a submissive and docile wife who seems to conform blindly to the stereotype of an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her husband.
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rather than being murdered and replaced with robots. The script culminates in a twist ending in which it is a powerful woman (played by Glenn Close) who is the evil mastermind of the injustice perpetrated on other women, and features a "Stepfordized" male partner of a gay town resident. Unlike the
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In the story's epilogue, Joanna has become another
Stepford wife gliding through the local supermarket, having given up her career as a photographer because, as she puts it, "housework's enough for me". Ruthanne Hendry (a new resident and the first black woman in Stepford) appears poised to become
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As time goes on, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the submissive wives of
Stepford who seem to lack free will, especially when she sees her once independent-minded friends (Bobbie, Charmaine), fellow new arrivals to Stepford, turn into mindless, docile housewives, each time beginning after a
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At the end of the novel, Joanna decides to flee
Stepford, but when she gets home, she finds that her children have been taken. She asks her husband to let her leave but he takes her car keys. She manages to escape from the house on foot and several of the men's club members track her down. They
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franchise. The reason why the men in
Stepford make their wives into submissive robots is that they are afraid of losing control over their wives. The similarity between sex robots and the women in Stepford is that they are both lifeless and docile, hence the men do not need consent in order to
257:
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 successful
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original novel and most of the adaptations, the perpetrators of the conspiracy neither die nor get away with their crimes; the victims are freed from their control programming and subject their husbands to a taste of their own medicine as restitution.
380:. In this film, instead of being androids, the wives underwent a brainwashing procedure and then took pills that kept them hypnotized. In the end, the wives broke free of their conditioning and a mob of them killed the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
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says: "not only a satire of male fears of women's liberation, but a savage view of heterosexual marriage. In this telling, a man would rather kill his wife and replace her with a robot than commit to equality and recognise her as a whole person."
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town of
Stepford, Connecticut and their fawning, submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. The protagonist is Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer newly arrived from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life.
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professionals. 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
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romantic weekend with their respective husbands. All the women deny anything is wrong. Joanna's own husband, who seems to be spending more and more time at meetings of the local men's association, mocks her fears.
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to inquire about possible toxins in
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produced the 1975 version as well as all three of the television sequels. Scherick was credited posthumously as producer of the 2004 remake.
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in
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41:"Stepford" redirects here. For the Scottish former railway station, see
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569:"Political Theater: A Banned Play on the War (5 Letters)"
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The premise involves the married men of the fictional
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The Feminist Press at the City University of New York
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628:Monson-Rosen, Madeleine (March–April 2016).
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371:was cast as one of the town residents.
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630:"Review: Stepford Wives and Sexbots"
374:A 1980 television sequel was titled
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295:There are many feminist themes in
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705:Maxwell, Kerry (April 28, 2003).
546:Arrow, Michelle (July 24, 2022).
677:"Definition of 'Stepford wife'"
279:The reaction of men to feminism
225:In a March 27, 2007, letter to
664:Adventures in the Screen Trade
335:The Stepford Wives (2004 film)
331:The Stepford Wives (1975 film)
125:Print (hardback and paperback)
36:The Stepford Wives (2004 film)
32:The Stepford Wives (1975 film)
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1032:Revenge of the Stepford Wives
377:Revenge of the Stepford Wives
321:fulfill their sexual desire.
291:The role of women in the home
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637:The Women's Review of Books
34:. For the 2004 remake, see
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260:state department of health
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1121:American satirical novels
1091:Novels set in Connecticut
757:The Stepford Wives (2004)
746:The Stepford Wives (1975)
146:(first edition, hardback)
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184:PZ4.L664 St PS3523.E7993
43:Stepford railway station
711:macmillandictionary.com
30:For the 1975 film, see
27:1972 novel by Ira Levin
1081:American horror novels
519:Culture of Domesticity
493:Bedminster, New Jersey
392:A 1996 version called
1048:The Stepford Husbands
1040:The Stepford Children
888:No Time for Sergeants
681:collinsdictionary.com
594:Silver, Anna (2002).
395:The Stepford Husbands
386:The Stepford Children
343:with a screenplay by
1111:Women in Connecticut
1071:1972 American novels
851:The Boys from Brazil
715:Macmillan Publishers
707:"Buzzword: Stepford"
405:Another film titled
1086:Novels by Ira Levin
819:A Kiss Before Dying
231:Wilton, Connecticut
62:First edition cover
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51:The Stepford Wives
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1013:The Stepford Wives
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988:The Stepford Wives
843:The Stepford Wives
573:The New York Times
429:Christopher Walken
408:The Stepford Wives
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227:The New York Times
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690:December 2,
499:In language
441:Glenn Close
361:Tina Louise
325:Adaptations
216:2004 remake
203:" novel by
1065:Categories
530:References
473:New Canaan
445:Jon Lovitz
437:Faith Hill
433:Roger Bart
214:, and the
199:"feminist
195:is a 1972
983:Ira Levin
920:Deathtrap
802:Ira Levin
485:Fairfield
205:Ira Levin
197:satirical
92:Publisher
72:Ira Levin
931:Musicals
649:26433217
615:40004637
553:July 28,
524:Tradwife
513:See also
465:Westport
413:Frank Oz
235:Stamford
172:813/.5/4
82:Thriller
18:Stepford
579:May 25,
481:Norwalk
461:Redding
453:cyborgs
314:consent
308:Consent
1051:(1996)
1043:(1987)
1035:(1980)
991:(1972)
942:(1965)
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899:(1960)
891:(1956)
870:(1997)
862:(1991)
859:Sliver
854:(1976)
846:(1972)
838:(1970)
830:(1967)
822:(1953)
810:Novels
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477:Wilton
469:Darien
274:Themes
201:horror
159:303634
86:Satire
68:Author
879:Plays
798:Works
645:JSTOR
633:(PDF)
611:JSTOR
599:(PDF)
130:Pages
78:Genre
762:IMDb
751:IMDb
722:2017
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581:2010
555:2022
479:and
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