Just the other day, I found myself watching the show 'Wife Swap'. I will leave it to the fact that I was bored and too lazy to get the remote control off of my coffee table. In case this is a show you have never seen, I will give a brief run down of how it operates. Two families, usually separated by a large distance across the country, agree to have their wives trade places and live with the other family for a week. For the first few days, the "new" wife must follow the rules of the household and the last few days the husband and children must follow her rules. As you can imagine, a hot mess is pretty much a guarantee. The producers typically choose very opposite types of families (based on lifestyle, religion, etc.) creating quite a dichotomy. The day I happened to be watching involved one family that was extremely religious, did not allow their two little girls to wear pants, the girls were home schooled, the mother stayed home and cleaned, cooked, etc. all day every day, and their idea of a good time involved pie and ice cream at a silent dinner table. On the other hand, the family from Texas no less, had quite the opposing lifestyle. The parents were members of a rock band, partied all night, cursed in the home, and left their little boy and girl to basically fend for themselves in getting ready for school and other daily routines. Ironically, the father of the "rock band" family was previously a pastor. Hhhmmm....
The wives swap and drama ensues. The Christian household is one that the "rock" mom can barely tolerate. She explains to the father that she and her husband have an equal relationship and share the responsibilities. His argument in return is that the way they do things is based on biblical rules and she should not be so disrespectful to degrade their way of life. This argument got me thinking of the week we discussed "Eve" and her "sinful" behavior and how that has transcended into the way we live today. Have women really been able to advance over thousands of years? Doesn't really seem like it. Is society going to perpetuate women in subservient positions? This particular show serves to perpetuate this idea. I mean...the name of the show is "Wife Swap" for goodness sake. It might as well be titled: "Ok husbands, want a new wife for a week to cook and clean for you and the kids? Well, here ya go!"
This show only serves to keep women in a more submissive position. Why don't the husbands swap places? The title of the show itself objectifies women. Where is the change? Catherine Palczewski wrote a rhetorical piece entitled: The Male Madonna and the Feminine Uncle Sam: Visual Argument, Icons, and Ideographs in 1909 Anti-Woman Suffrage Postcards. She analyzes a set of postcards by highlighting their visual elements and the underlying messages within the images. The set of postcards show women in heels and wearing pants that reveal the ankle. They also emphasize the woman in a male role and the man in a female role (usually walking a dog or carrying a baby). This was done, Palczewski argues, to take a stab at women's rights. One postcard even states: "Where, oh where, is my wandering wife tonight?", and depicts a man holding the crying children and a woman behind a podium addressing a crowd. Excuse me...are men not able to care for children? Should we be feeling sorry for the women or is the poor sucker really the man who is incapable of taking care of children and household duties on his own? This takes me back to Wife Swap, where the man is usually not doing any sort of household duty, but instead leaves that to his wife. He also has no problem reminding her of what she needs to do if she doesn't do it in a timely fashion. I consider that the goal of the show is to emphasize extreme stereotypes and make them humorous. These anti-suffrage postcards served the same purpose. I think the problem lies in the fact that we don't stop and think that people really do still live this way. It would be interesting to see what kind of communication is negotiated in order to set such a standard of the wife in a subservient position.
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