His Stepford wife

‘Sorry I didn’t realise it was that audible. But I have a lot on my mind which is weighing me down.’ She replied. ‘Well don’t we all?’ Asabe asked from the back seat. ‘It’s just that we don’t allow such things to weigh us down. We try to fight those moods whenever we can, especially […]

‘Sorry I didn’t realise it was that audible. But I have a lot on my mind which is weighing me down.’ She replied.

‘Well don’t we all?’ Asabe asked from the back seat. ‘It’s just that we don’t allow such things to weigh us down. We try to fight those moods whenever we can, especially when we are on our way to a wedding feast.’ She added, smiling.

‘Yeah’ I answered ‘and especially when we look so delectable one can easily mistake us for a bridesmaid.’ I joked gesturing towards the beautiful lace attire Maryam was wearing.

‘Well thanks for your hidden compliment, but talking about looks reminds me of what has been the cause of my worries and sighs all along. These days Ibrahim has grown obsessed with my looks. He complains endlessly about things I wore or how they look on my physique. I wonder what he wants me to do. Change my wardrobe or my shape?’ She complained.

‘He criticises your clothes and looks? Men are indeed amazing. To think that you are the only one among us who haven’t lost your campus-days figure. What does he want?’ I asked.

‘I really don’t know and it wouldn’t be so bad if he was only against my looks but sometimes he extends it to everything I do, including how I run his household.’ Maryam added.

‘Really? If a perfectionist homemaker like you get knocks in spite of all your efforts, then I think there is more to his complaints than we think.’ Asabe volunteered.

‘I can’t help feeling that way too, because now he doesn’t even like sharing his thoughts on current issues. I mean you all know how we used to talk for long hours over important issues; lively, scintillating discussions. Well we don’t do any of that now. The moment I bring up an issue he will quickly remember something that he wants done. Then he will send me to do it. He just seems to be after something different from what or who I am.’ Maryam mourned.

‘I think I know what he’s after, he want you to be a Stepford wife.’ I offered.

‘A what?’ she asked confused.

‘A Stepford wife, as in the movie. Don’t you remember? The film we watched and had a lengthy discussion on in my house last year.’ I explained.

‘No I don’t remember, in fact I don’t think I was there at all.’ Maryam insisted.

‘Yes she is right Bint, it was just you, I and Jamila that day.’ Asabe recalled.

‘I see,‘ I agreed. ‘You have no idea what you missed Maryam. A very interesting plot that also sheds light on what men really want, deep inside.’ I said.

‘Don’t get carried away Bint, you know it was a science fiction movie.’  Asabe countered.

‘Look who’s talking, don’t we see evidence of it all around us? It is what all men want, it’s just that some have no choice but to tolerate what they have. ‘ I argued.

‘Look I am dying with curiosity. What do all men want?‘ Maryam asked, warming up at last.

‘You see, the film Stepford wives is about a beautiful American suburb where all wives are ideal spouses. They go happily about their housework, cleaning, doing laundry and cooking great meals in addition to looking gorgeous all the time. They simply exist to tend to their husbands’ pleasures. When a new family arrived from another part of US, the wife immediately sensed that there was something wrong with the near- perfect way Stepford women looked, lived and  chorus their replies to their de facto leader.

Anyway a little personal investigation by this new resident uncovers the fact that these wives were once normal career women who combined it well with being wives and mothers but once they moved to Stepford, were changed into robots through the insertion of a microchip inside their brain. The effect of the micro-chip is both physical and mental. Physically she gets transformed into a younger, more beautiful version of herself, complete with slim a figure and a brighter skin. And mentally she becomes a complete robot who will only do the bidding of her husband, who actually has a remote control that he hides and uses to control her.

Now, in order not to destroy your suspense I will allow you to watch the film yourself so you can see how it ends. But the point I am making is that deep down that is what all men want. An eternally beautiful and youthful wife who will be at their beck and call all the time; who will do her house chores cheerfully and never get tired; who will speak only after being spoken to, so the question of an intellectual discussion doesn’t even arise. In short they all want a complete pleasure-giver, who has no needs of her own. That’s the moral of the Stepford story.’ I concluded.

‘Come on Bint that’s not true. Our men today want empowered and emancipated women; who will pursue their own careers and complement the family’s income; who will make their own mark on society and leave footprints on the sands of time. No man will ever want a wife without a mind of her own.’ Maryam argued.

‘Is that what you believe?’ Asabe chipped in ‘maybe the film went to the extreme by saying that they agreed to change their wives to robots, but it is true that most men prefer aye-sayers all the time. Have you noticed how middle-aged men seem to see all the changes in your life at just the time you want them to also notice the changes in their own lives? Did you notice how they sometimes go for brides in their late teens or early twenties, so called ‘eaglet wives’, just to keep in touch with eternal youth? Have you also noticed that in their middle or old age their eaglet wives tend to be pretty, dumb and totally after the material gains of the union? It is because at this point in their lives, men are not after your smartness, intellectual prowess or even a truly mutual companionship, all they want at this stage is an aye-saying robot.’ Asabe concluded.

‘Really? I never saw it that way.’ Maryam mumbled.

‘Well you better do because everything about your complain shows that your husband is suffering from the Stepford syndrome.’ I declared, turning the car into the wedding venue.

‘Yes Bint is right’, Asabe agreed, ‘considering how fashionable and elegant you are, it is impossible to see why Ibrahim should endlessly criticise you and your home-management skills unless he is afflicted with the syndrome.’

‘Well he certainly isn’t going to get a robot wife out of me no matter what he does. I have always had a mind of my own and no one is going to take that away from me.’ Maryam announced, resolutely.

‘Well it won’t cost you much to be a little bit on the dumb side. Right now you said he doesn’t engage in intellectual discussions with you. Ok, say little, speak only when you are spoken to. Be a Stepford wife for a while and see. He will eventually miss the old Maryam and try to seek you out. But if he doesn’t and seems to be happy with the new you, well at least you know what the problem is and have nipped it in the bud on time.’ I advised.

‘Believe me I can never settle for such an arrangement. I can’t be anything but what I am. Ibrahim can either take it or leave it.’ She protested.

‘In that case be prepared for more heartache as he continues to pick fault with your every move. And please don’t come to us for a shoulder to cry on when he jumps out in search of his Stepford robot.’ Asabe warned, opening her car door to walk into the luncheon venue.