University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations December 2015 Retrograde Returns of the American Housewife: Reimagining an Old Character in a New Millennium Ruth Emelia Wollersheim University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Wollersheim, Ruth Emelia, "Retrograde Returns of the American Housewife: Reimagining an Old Character in a New Millennium" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1094. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1094 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETROGRADE RETURNS OF THE AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE: REIMAGINING AN OLD CHARACTER IN A NEW MILLENNIUM by Ruth Wollersheim A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee December 2015 ABSTRACT RETROGRADE RETURNS OF THE AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE: REIMAGINING AN OLD CHARACTER IN A NEW MILLENIUM by Ruth Wollersheim The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015 Under the Supervision of Professor Patrice Petro This dissertation explores the immensely popular return of the housewife character in the twenty-first century. From films like The Stepford Wives (2004), to television dramas like Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) and The Good Wife (2009- ), to reality shows like Wife Swap (2004- ), Bravo’s The Real Housewives franchise (2006- ), Basketball Wives (2010- ), Mob Wives (2011- ), and most recently on the blogosphere with personalities like The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the housewife character has reentered our imaginations on a mass scale. This anachronistic character trend is in stark contrast to the urban, working superwoman ideal of the 1980s and 1990s portrayed in characters like Ally McBeal and Carrie Bradshaw. Arguably, reimagining the housewife in the new millennium is both a part of a larger project to nostalgically return to earlier periods of US history while trying to redefine womanhood and motherhood today, post 9/11. Chapter one links the rise of the housewife as an American stock character to American nationalism in anywhere from early advice books in the nineteenth century, such Lydia M. Child’s The American Frugal Housewife (1829), into cinematic narratives such as Cecil B. DeMille’s sex comedies like Old Wives For New (1918) and, later, to the classic 1950s June Cleaver television character in Leave it to Beaver. Chapter two analyzes ii the 2004 film remake of The Stepford Wives and its relationship to second-wave feminism and the 1970s popular horror novel by Ira Levin and film directed by Bryan Forbes. Chapter three describes how the television show Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) was the first to bring the character of the suffering housewife imagined by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique back to life. Chapter four examines the pervasiveness of the housewife character on reality television, as it explores the relationship between so-called real housewives and real feminists within neoliberal constructions of postfeminist and post-racial identities. Chapter five concludes with a brief discussion of new trends in hip domesticity that are popular on the blogosphere, ultimately revealing how the housewife character has been historically aligned with articulating American feminist identities and concerns. iii © Copyright by Ruth Wollersheim, 2015 All Rights Reserved iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One- Introduction 1 “Reimaging the Housewife Today” “The Rise of a Stock Character and the Politics of a Nation” “Television and the 1950s Housewife” Chapter Two- Stepford Wives 37 “Stepford Discourse” “Second Wave Feminism, Maidenform Bras, and The (1970s) Stepford Wife” “Housezombies, Wifebots, and the Gothic Horrors of Feminism” “The New Stepford Century: Repetition, Choice, and Fate in the Third Wave” “Stepford Camp” Chapter Three- Desperate Housewives 78 “Desperation Makes the Housewife Mad: Identifying with Postfeminism’s Angry Ghosts” “Post Script- A Backlash Against Desperation” Chapter Four- Real Housewives 120 “Confessions of ‘Real’ Housewives and ‘Real’ Feminists: Intersections of Feminism and Realism in Reality Television’s Housewives” “The Housewife Race and The Real Housewives of Atlanta” Chapter Five- Conclusion 163 “Domestic Chic and the Neoliberal Ghosts of Lydia M. Child: Radical Housewifery and the New Frugality of the Feminist Hipster Housewife” “Conclusion: Specters of Feminism, Speak” Works Cited 199 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In October of 2010 I sent out a desperate plea on Facebook, looking for someone to adopt two lovable, affectionate cats. My brother’s wife (girlfriend, at the time) had just experienced a terrible flood in her Chicago apartment and needed to move immediately. My brother, unfortunately, was severely allergic to her cats. Having to part with her beloved companions in order to move in with my brother was almost unbearable. Remarkably, I received an email from Patrice Petro within a few days, exclaiming that her 16 year old daughter, Sophie, would love them. What an enormous relief! While heartbreaking to have to give up the cats, my family credits the Petro/Martin cat adoption for playing a role in their eventual marriage. For this, we will always be eternally grateful to Patrice and Andy. We cannot imagine our family without Kate. Not only does this story demonstrate Patrice’s enormous generosity, warmth, and kindness, but also her propensity for taking in strays. Having wandered away from graduate school in 2007 to pursue other things, I was also kind of a stray myself when I asked Patrice if she would still be willing to chair my dissertation committee several years later. I will always be indebted to Patrice for taking me back, gracefully and enthusiastically. Patrice’s comments on my drafts have made me a better academic and a better writer. She has been a role model, a champion, and a friend to me. Her intellectual contributions to feminist film studies are unparalleled, and I feel immensely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with her. She is one of the finest scholars and humans I know. I would also like to thank Gilberto Blasini and Tami Williams for serving on my committee. They have both provided a lot of support to me over the years, as well as played an integral role in my development as a young, graduate student. Tami inspired in me a love of vi early female film histories. Gilberto spent numerous hours with me gossiping about our favorite television characters. Both subjects proved helpful in writing this dissertation. I thank as well my wonderful dissertation readers, Andy Martin and Elana Levine. Elana’s graduate course on Feminist Media Studies in 2005 inspired a seminar paper on Desperate Housewives, and I credit her for introducing me to all the important, initial work on television and postfeminism. Additionally, I would like to thank the brilliant Carol Stabile who, during her time at UWM, worked with me on an independent study and gave me a strong foundation in the history of consumer culture. It has been a privilege to learn from you all. I have additionally benefited from the companionship and support of my fellow graduate students at UWM who challenged me to join committees, write proposals, attend conferences, and produce work together. Their friendship has shaped me in countless ways. Particularly, thanks to: Cara Ogburn, Thomas Shur, Gina Caison, Defne Tüzün, Terri Williams, Lisa Riecks- Soucek, Katie Malcolm, Andrew Sempos Anastasia, Kate Haffey, Shereen Inayatulla, Suzanne Leonard, Yanmei Jiang, Susan Kerns, and Casey O’Brien. I am furthermore thankful to Century College for granting me a sabbatical for the 2014-2015 school year. I would also like to credit Paula Thibault with taking such good care of my two kids during the day while I was writing. My family has been an unprecedented source of strength and encouragement throughout this long process, and I thank them for supporting me and believing in me unwaveringly. First, thank you to my sweet Myron, a constant writing companion and foot warmer. Thanks also to my cousin, Carlye Proescholdt, for not only being the best “auntie,” but also providing editing feedback in my final hours. My sometimes painful absence from my beautiful children, Wesley and Mildred Wollerjohn, only pushed me to work harder. I thought about their bright faces constantly throughout my work days and longed to be with them again. In the moments before vii this dissertation is due, 18-month-old Millie just said the word “heart” for the first time. They are my heart, indeed. Moreover, my partnership with my husband, Bart Johnson, has meant the world to me. He is my best friend, my confidant, my biggest cheerleader, and my love. My favorite parts of the day are always, finally, with him. Perhaps most of all, I owe this to the endless support of my amazing parents, Gary and Polly Wollersheim, who have given me all that I am. They never censored what I was able to check out at the library, allowed me to dye my hair with Kool-Aid, and championed all my various interests and obsessions with enthusiasm and unconditional love. This is for you, Mom and Dad viii CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION Reimaging the Housewife Today The quintessential housewife we imagine is a white, middle-class woman from the pages of advertisements or television shows from the 1950s. She stands in the kitchen with a small- waisted, flared dress and an apron tied around her back. Her hair is shiny and cut just above the shoulders or tied up neatly behind her head. She may be standing by the stove or holding a Jell-O mold or a vacuum. She’s lovely, polite, smiling, and serene.