It spoke directly to the rapid expansion of second-wave feminism, championed by women who sought to broaden gender equality beyond basic rights and bring it into the workplace, the home and the bedroom.Īt 35-40,000 words, Levin’s novel (which is widely marketed as such, despite technically being a novella) is short, sharp and to the point. To first- and long-time readers alike, Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives still feels fresh, timely and engaging and, at time of publication back in 1972, it was all of these things and more. While various adaptations have been made of the iconic novel, we will be looking at the very first: Bryan Forbes’ 1975 film, starring Katharine Ross and Peter Masterson, which tacks closely to the novel’s plot and offers a more artistically meaningful comparison than, say, the big-budget 2004 black comedy adaptation starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick. Her husband Walter joins the local Men’s Association with the purported intention of changing their misogynistic ways from within, but as he is drawn into their mysterious inner circle, Joanna soon begins to suspect all may not be as it seems, that maybe the Stepford wives are being replaced by robots, and that she might be next.

With a neighbourhood full of submissive housewives with perfect skin, large chests and nothing better to do than scrub the kitchen floor, Joanna finds herself at a loose end. The story follows twenty-something feminist and talented photographer Joanna Eberhart and her family, to the sedate, idyllic, fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut. Equally, its two film adaptations and many television spinoffs have ensured it the widest possible exposure across the decades. Certainly, this past half-century the book’s themes and easily digestible prose have endeared it to successive generations of readers. So prevalent is the novel that its title entered common usage many years ago, to refer, often disparagingly, to a subservient housewife. Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, having endured as a cultural phenomenon to this day. 50 years on from the release of this landmark sci-fi satire, it’s time to take another stroll around the quiet streets of Stepford.

The stepford wives by ira levin