The Stepford Society vs the United States Society

As a man or a women, what do you want from yourself, for yourself from society, and from the opposite sex? These questions were all addressed in the movie Stepford Wives, written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Frank Oz,and they are also addressed in the real world as well. In the movie, women want to be perfect and cater to their husbands every want and need, somewhat seen in the United States today as well. Men want to be dominant over the women and have complete control, some men are like this today but it isn't the common view of women. The movie does not do a proper portrayal of the realistic wants of both men and women, the Stepford society is much different than most in the United States.

In the movie women wanted a lot of themselves because of the fact that they were programmed by a computer chip and hooked up to a remote that their husbands had full control over. They felt that they needed to be perfect, they had to have blonde hair and a great body and always wearing a bright colorful dress. A Stepford mom had to have control over their children so they acted like angels, had to cook gourmet meals for the family, always have the house spotless, and never have any time for themselves. In order to fit in, Joanna decided to bake hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes for her children to take to school because she knew that's what any other Stepford mom would do for their children. It didn't matter how long it took, she was supposed to dedicate her entire life to the people around her. Everything Stepford women wanted of themselves was because that's what their husband wanted of them, they didn't have the capability to think on their own.

Before the women of the Stepford community were computer programmed, they led lives much similar to those that would be seen in today's society. They were "real" women and wanted things of themselves much like women do in our world. Today, as much as women want to be the perfect wife and mother, everyone knows there is no such thing. They want to be able to raise a well behaved family, but it isn't expected that their children be complete angels, always behaving and doing exactly what they're told to - children don't do that. Many women today do cook for their families but there are also many men that do. When the mother can't be home at a certain hour, it isn't a sin for them to ask their husband to make a meal for the kids, and very rarely is it expected to be gourmet, no matter who is cooking. They expect themselves to keep the house tidy, but with children running around, they don't kill themselves to have it spotless all the time. Women are more realistic in today's society than they were in Stepford.

Again, what women want for themselves in the movie varies from what women want for themselves in today's society. In Stepford, women didn't want much for themselves, they were too busy catering to the wants and needs of everyone else around them. The only things they really wanted were a nice home and a friendly neighborhood. Having friendly neighbors was very important to them, they did many things together such as the women's spa where they did their workouts, or the square dances and other social gatherings. They just wanted things that would make them happy instead of being successful.

Women in the United States today want much more for themselves from our society. They want the be seen as an equal to men, and not be looked down upon, especially in the workforce. Women want to have the same high paying jobs that men do with the ability to be independent of their husbands, they don't want to depend on the opposite sex like the women in Stepford do. Women want a life for themselves and to be seen by the rest of society as a success. They want to be seen as their own person instead of their husband's wife.

Women don't only hold expectations of themselves and society, but of men as well. In the movie, the only thing that women wanted of men was their need of the woman. The women had to be needed in order to feel that they belonged in their society. They also expected the men to provide the financial income of the house since they all stayed at home being housewives. Other than that, they didn't expect much of the men because they spent so much time at the men's association, just being with the guys assuming the women had control of everything at the house.

Today in the United States, women want a little more than that from the men in their lives. One of the main things they want from the men is communication. They want someone that talks to them instead of just assuming they know what's going on. Women also need support of the things they do, they aren't always seen as equals and are sometimes put down because of their gender, when that happens to them, they want the men in their lives to support their decision to fight the idea and not be alone in their situation, unlike in Stepford when it was the men in their lives that were putting them down because they were females. To avoid the discrimination all together, they also want respect from men, as well as from everyone else around them. Being a woman doesn't make you any less than a man and therefore you should be treated the same way, unlike the way they were treated in the movie, as possessions. At a more personal level, they also want the men to share the household responsibilities, especially when they're a working mother. When they're out of the house all day working, just like the male of the household, they don't want to come home and have to do all the cooking, cleaning, and raising of the children by themselves, they want help and support from the men.

Although the movie, Stepford Wives, focuses mainly on the women, you also see some examples of what men want of themselves, for themselves, and of women. In the Stepford community, men want to be seen as high status figures who always succeed more than their wives. They turn their wives into robots so they'd have complete control over them, making the women forget the great jobs they used to be employed in. The men want to be seen as powerful and dominant.

Today men want things slightly different of themselves than they did in Stepford. They still want to be able to succeed and hold high paying jobs in order to support their families. They expect that they'll be able to find time for their families, being there while their children grow up. Many men still feel that they should be above women, both in their jobs and in the family, and feel that they aren't manly enough if the women have more control over something.

Men don't only expect things of themselves, they also want things for themselves, like any other person in the world. In Stepford one of the main things men want for themselves is the respect of the other men around them, and as long as they went to the men's association, they received that respect. As long as you are a part of their society and actively involved, you earned the respect you wanted; for example there was a gay couple there worried that they would be looked down upon but because they partook in the same activities as all the other guys, they were treated the same exact way everyone else was. They also want time to themselves, away from their family and all responsibilities of the house. The men feel that they can just leave the women in the house all day while they're out with the men, letting their wives run the house.

Men are looking for some of the same things in today's society in the United States. They, like any other man in any society, want respect from those around him. In our society, they are more likely to gain respect because of a high paying job than by controlling their wife like they do in Stepford. Men also want high paying jobs in order to support their families and give them everything they need and a lot of what they want. They want to be seen as the ideal father and family man, one who provides and protects, but also one that takes time out of their day to play with their children so they don't miss out on their childhood. Although it didn't seem to be a want in the movie, today most men want to be loved.

Just like women, men not only want things of themselves and for themselves, but of the women in their lives as well. In Stepford, the men wanted someone below them to make them feel more superior, both in the outside society and in the household. The men had complete control over the women, to the point where they had a remote control. They expected the women to cook, clean, and raise the children, as if it were their only job, that their lives should be devoted to pleasing the people around them instead of themselves. While the men were out at their men's association, the women usually stayed at home with the children and cleaned so the house was spotless. Men want women to cater to their every want and need, to always be right there when needed. To demonstrate this fact the men in the movie even had a whistle which their wives answered to, a very degrading action.

Men are a little more respectful of women in today's society in the United States, although women aren't always treated as complete equals, it's closer than in Stepford. Today men want more personal things from women, such as a loyal, lifelong partner. They expect a women to not cheat on them and love them for life, they want to know they can trust the women in their life and they want the women to trust them as well. Men also want women to communicate, they don't want to play guessing games with them, they want the women to talk to them about everything going on in their lives, not to keep secrets. To a certain degree men still want women to cook, clean, and raise the children, but they're much more likely to help with those household chores than the men in the Stepford community. Nowadays there are men who stay at home to raise the children while women go to work, which would have been unheard of in their society. More than anything else, today men want women to love them, treat them respectfully, and be there to support them, as well as to help raise well behaved children and take care of the house.

Although there were many obvious differences between the Stepford society and today's United States society, there were several ideas that they had in common. In regards to the women, in both societies, they feel that they need to help everyone else around them, putting themselves last. They want to make other people happy before they make themselves happy. Women tend to care more about the well-being of their family, husband and children, than they do of themselves. Even though it isn't always the case, most women are the ones who take the primary role of raising the children. They help with the school projects, bake for bake sales, and are always there to lend an ear and a shoulder to cry on. In both societies the main caregiver is the women. No matter what society you look at, men always want respect from those around him. He doesn't want to be seen below the women, for he feels that that takes away from his manliness. The United States has been making progress in this area, but most people would agree that men are still seen as above women, especially in power and strength. Just like in the Stepford community, men have the upper edge in the society and have more control over issues than the women.

Everyone holds expectations of themselves as well as those of the opposite sex that are in their lives. What women want for themselves and of themselves was shaped by men in the Stepford society because they weren't allowed to think for themselves. The men had complete control and could do anything they wanted, making the women do whatever they asked. The United States' society is much different today, with men and women seen on a closer to equal level, but there were still some general concepts that were seen in both the film, Stepford Wives, and in our society today.