The Stepford Wives are Very Much Alive and Well

The Sundance Channel released a list of top ten films that deal with the theme of 'war on women'. I highly encourage you all to check out the list, but one of the films on the list that caught my attention was The Stepford Wives. The film centers on a couple who move to the suburb of Stepford, which appears to be perfect and safe. The woman of Stepford are seen as perfect housewives who never have a stray hair out of place and are always submitting to their husbands. The main character Joanna, realizes that this 'perfect' town is not at all what it seems and that the woman of Stepford are created into robots so their husbands can control their every move. Of course, this is a very satirical depiction of female gender roles and oppression, but there is an important message to this story.

According to Krugoyoy- Silver's, The Cyborg Mystique: "The Stepford Wives" and Second Wave Feminism, the message of The Stepford Wives addresses how the role of the housewife is  unrealistic and oppressive. Krugoyoy-Silver states, "The robots in The Stepford  Wives  conform to cultural norms of feminine appearance not merely through their slim bodies (because, after all, human Bobbie and Joanna are slim themselves) but in their overall appearance. After their "transformations,"  Bobbie's overalls and Joanna's pants disappear, replaced by ruffled aprons and dresses. Bobbie begins to wear makeup, curl her hair, and wear a "padded uplift bra."

Please keep in mind, this film is a little outdated, but there is some truth to this feminist critique. Krugoyo-Silver suggests the housewife is viewed as a dominant role in the media and we give into these images. Look at how woman are perpetuated in the media and individuals buy into these products or fads. This image of femininty may have transformed since 1975, but the oppressive nature of these females roles are still very much apparent in todays culture.

I find it very interesting to examine Bravo's The Real Housewives Series. These woman have it all, they really don't work, some of the have cosmetic enhancements preformed to delay the aging process, and are always look perfect. Furthermore, all they really do on the show is hang-out with their girlfriends, party, and take care of their kids.

Derenzo's feminist critique on the show discusses how these women are a modern day Stepford wife, "The simple construction of the show reinforces the ideals of patriarchy with the male figures as leaders of the family, and with the women and children financially depending on their earnings.  As most of the women do not have full time jobs, or jobs at all, their financial well beings are dependent on their spouses’ success.  The male financial dominance then grants them extended control over the women limiting their activities and outside interests.  However, the women rely so heavily on their husbands’ money that they are accustomed to living the cushioned lifestyle of a housewife predicated on their husbands’ control."

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Resources: The Sundance Channel, The Stepford Wives, Anna Krugoyoy Silver,  Giovana Derenzo

Sexists Ads From the Past

I wonder if these companies that released these ads are now thinking, "Wow, this wasn't a great move on our part." The following ads in the slideshow above were taken from the article, "The Outrageously Sexist Ads of the Mad Men Era That Companies Wish We'd Forget." I would suggest that advertisements today are just as sexist. In my previous posts, I have discussed that today's advertisements are very sexual in its content and present women as sex objects. However, the content in these ads are extremely different in that a lot of these ads are centered around women in the home. 

Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique comes to mind when I see these ads. Friedan called to action the representations of women and how a women's role as a housewife was oppressive. Friedan discusses these representations of women in the media, "The perpetuation of housewifery, the growth of the feminine mystique, makes sense (and dollars) when one realizes that women are the chief customers of American business. . . . the really important role that women serve as housewives is to buy more things for the house." (Friedan, 1963: 197) Friedan furthers her argument in that businesses give into this type of marketing towards women, because women were socialized into being a housewife at a very young age and this role is viewed as feminine, "By portraying housekeeping and other "feminine duties" as the ultimate goal of the modern woman, "ads glorify her ‘role’ as an American housewife–knowing that her very lack of identity in that role will make her fall for whatever they are selling" (Friedan, 1963: 219)

The biggest question that comes to mind is would one consider current advertisements just as oppressive? Here are two advertisements with women as the main subject. Which one (or both) do you think is sexist? 

The First Ad is from a 1960s Xerox Commercial.

The second ad is for a GoDaddy.com commercial which was aired during the 2005 Superbowl. 

So what are your thoughts?

Resources: Business Insider, Betty Friedan's, The Feminine Mystique

10. Digital Storytelling Outline

Photo from AMC Series, Mad Men

My digital storytelling video will adhere to the concepts of gender roles and patriarchy.  I will discuss two digital storytelling ideas that I have brainstormed and the following:

• The kinds of people I might include as interviewees.
• Challenges that I may encounter as I pursue these stories.
• If I may encounter these challenges, then address how I will overcome these obstacles.

The first digital storytelling idea would examine women discussing their experiences they have encountered with patriarchy and the pressure adhering to gender roles. I would start the video discussing for about a minute and an half on gender inequality in America (this would be done by voiceover with images of women in American society throughout the decades), then would transition into the interviewees and what they have to say. I would try get keep each interview under two minutes. I would select about three to four women; have them talk about their experiences with patriarchy and gender inequality they have encountered in their lives. The challenges that I may encounter are trying to work around the interviewees’ schedules. I would overcome this challenge if I got the okay to follow through with project and would begin immediately conducting interviews.

Brief Overview of first digital storytelling idea:

•     Examine women and their experiences with gender inequality and patriarchy.
•     Keep each interview under two minutes.
•     Start the video discussing briefly about gender inequality in America. 
•     Then transition into the first interviewee, second and third.

The second digital storytelling idea I have come up with is addressing individual’s viewpoints of the representation of women in the media. This will be done by going in the field and showing a media clip that embodies gender inequality to both men and women. Then videotape each interviewee’s viewpoints on the clip that was shown. First, I would discuss briefly about how women are portrayed in the media and show the clip that I would show to my participants. The clip would be from a television show or some other form of media that shows gender inequality. Then I would record their viewpoints on the clip. The challenge that I may encounter is getting individual’s that would be willing to be filmed. I was thinking about interviewing on campus, but I would possibly encounter noise issues. I am thinking of contacting some individual’s I know and asking them if they would be willing to be interviewed.

Brief overview of the second digital storytelling idea

• Video would examine men and women’s viewpoints on gender inequality in the media.
• I would show my media clip to my participants via my iPad.
• I would start the video discussing briefly gender inequality in the media and the short video clip I would show to my participants.
• Then transition into the first interviewee, second and third. 

6. 30 Rock Female Gender Roles and Hegemony: Video Clip as Representation of Key Concept

30 Rock is a comedy series on the NBC network that centers on the character Liz Lemon who is the head writer for the fictional show TGS. The show deals with the interactions between Liz’s boss, Jack Donaghy and co-workers. According to Artz & Murphy (2000), the media depicts men as the dominant class and women are viewed as the subordinate class. Artz & Murphy (2000) discusses how Antonio Gramsci argued that hegemony is viewed in two different ways, “It provides control through consensus but also can yield change if subordinate classes challenge these controls (Artz & Murphy, 2000: 2-4) Furthermore, they argue that hegemony only exists if the subordinate classes give into these roles, “Power is best secured if subordinates by into the arrangement, agree to the terms and make the relationship theirs. Hegemony is that system of support of the subordinate.” (Artz & Murphy, 2000: 3)

In the episode Jack the Writer (1.4), Liz confronts her assistant, Cerie about how her attire is becoming distracting for the other co-workers. The clip shows the characters viewpoints of gender roles in society. Liz’s assistant, Cerie agrees to the dominant-subordinate relationship between men and women. Rather than Liz, who provides a counterhegemonic discourse that a women’s role in society is not about just settling down and becoming a housewife. She tells Cerie, “You need to wear a bra if you want to be taken seriously in this business.” (Jack the Writer, 1.4) Cherie tells her that her job isn’t long-term and that she wants to settle down and become a mother. Liz argues that being a housewife isn’t the only occupation a women can do. 

There are some great series’ on cable that challenge hegemonic forms of female gender roles such as Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, and New Girl. It would be interesting to examine these current series that are on air and explore if there is a trend of women challenging a hegemonic structure for female gender roles or that these female characters give into it.

The following video shows clips of the Liz Lemon, and how these individuals find her to be a positive and relatable character:

Resources: Artz & Murphy (2000), 30 Rock- Carlock, R. (Writer) 2006, Rudúlph, H. W. (2011), 30 Rock- Scardino, D. (Writer), 2010