The Stepford Wives

The Stepford Wives is a 1972 suburban horror novel by Ira Levin. It has been adapted into film twice, The Stepford Wives (1975 film) and The Stepford Wives (2004 film), and made-for-tv sequels Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980), The Stepford Children (1987), and The Stepford Husbands (1996).

The novel tells the story of Joanna Eberhart, a photographer who moves to the small town of Stepford with her husband and children. She is increasingly disturbed by the robot-like behavior of the wives of Stepford, who she discovers were previously, like herself, high achievers. Joanna is convinced that the women are robots, and attempts to flee the city, only to be captured and turned into a "Stepford wife" herself. The conspiracy continues, and Ruthanne, Stepford's first African American wife, appears likely to become the next "Stepford wife".

The novel was based on Levin's experiences in a small Connecticut community, and is also a sharp critique of the upper-middle class white suburban lifestyle. As such, it can be read as a fictional exploration of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. The entry of Ruthanne and her family as the first African Americans in Stepford makes Stepford's whiteness more apparent to the reader. It also demonstrates that minorities can be assimilated and co-opted into patriarchal and class privilege, subtly calling into question reformist politics, versus the radical politics that would tear down the class and sex privilege that created the town.

Further reading

• William Warner, "Stepford Femininity" (study guide, 2002)