(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . From Stepford to Trump World: 'The Stepford Wives' Couldn't Be Timelier at 50 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-07-28 In early 2025, when either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris is inaugurated as the next president, “The Stepford Wives” will be a whopping 50 years old! Trump was 29 when this Katherine Ross movie hit theaters, and Kamala only 11. The sci-fi horror movie is about a town where wives are meant to be seen but not heard — and the incredible lengths the men of Stepford, Connecticut go to keep things that way. x YouTube Video The film was recently remastered in 4K and can be seen for free on YouTube — which is great because it’s timelier than ever given the historic election we are witnessing. Stepford wife? No, it’s Kimberly Guilfoyle, Republican speaker and live-in girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. When one looks at Trump and the wives he’s burned through over the decades — and especially his own sons’ concubines — it’s difficult not to think of Stepford, the town dreamt up by Ira Levin, where the Trump-like leader of the city’s men’s club made it his mission to teach the local husbands how to bring independent minded wives into submission. The movie opens with the forlorn look on the face of the film’s protagonist, played by Katherine Ross. I thought of this look when I looked at the face of Usha Vance (wife of Republican VP candidate J.D. Vance) at the Republican National Convention this year. I wasn’t the only one. Michael Daly of the Daily Beast said it was a “what am I doing here” look. Many of us wondered if she was suddenly realizing the world she was about to enter — and what she was going to have to start being like. The one-time Democrat previously told friends she was “appalled” at Trump back in 2016. But now, like the women of Stepford, she seemed to be falling in line behind husband JD and the Trump machine the family has joined. Friends who knew her said it was “surreal” seeing her in a form-fitting blue dress, speaking glowingly of Trump at the Convention. That’s only because they hadn’t seen “The Stepford Wives”. Not to spoil the movie too much, but the married women who arrive in the little town of Stepford, no matter what state they were in when they got there — frumpy, awkward, unkempt, Democrat — all transform into trad wives — and cosmetically enhanced ones at that. Weirder even then the breast enlargements they get are the distinctive summer hats they start wearing, as if to differentiate themselves the “women’s libbers” who had started cropping up in the 1970s. Things are so eerily similar in Trump-world, you can even see the hats! Self-described “feminist” Ivanka Trump: Texas women in 2016 asked cosmetic surgeons to transform them into her. On the surgical enhancement front, self-proclaimed feminist (and top Trump daughter) Ivanka Trump has had obvious rhinoplasty and extremely obvious breast augmentation (the most common cosmetic enhancement in the town of Stepford as well). Trump himself pressured his daughter to get the implants. Former and possible future First Lady Melania Trump clearly has had surgery to shift her cheekbones and the outer corner of the eyes higher and tighter. Rhinoplasty likely contributed to her narrower nose. Kimberly Guilfoyle (famous for living with Donald Trump Jr. and for her loud Republican Convention speeches) is also known for botox and fillers. Surgically enhanced RNC chairwoman Lara Trump (Instagram, donning the summer hat) Lara Trump (wife of Eric Trump and RNC chairwoman) clearly has had a $100,000 facelift as she looks younger than she did a decade ago. As in Stepford, the condition is contagious. During the first Trump campaign and presidency, Texas plastic surgeons started getting calls from area Republican women asking for surgeries to make them look like Ivanka Trump. And in 2024 cosmetically enhanced models have started groups like “Hot Girls for Trump” and “Hot Babes for Trump” across the Web-o-sphere. While the wives of Stepford all become beautiful after they arrive, the men not so much. In Trump World, it’s OK for husbands to be bald, fat … old. The women need to at least strive for ageless and physical perfection. Compare that to the Democratic Party, where women like Jill Biden, Kamalla Harris or Liz Warren proudly look their age — au naturale. It’s a different universe. Women’s groups that support Trump bear names like “Hot Girls for Trump” and “Hot Babes for Trump”. When he was owner of the Miss Universe pageant, Trump would insult contestants if their BMI exceeded expectations, calling one Miss Universe “Miss Piggy” to her face after she gained weight. During the 2016 campaign, Trump laid into candidate Carly Fiorina, focusing entirely on her appearance: “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" There’s of course way too many insults about female appearance that Trump has made over the years to repeat here — perhaps most famously denying he raped E. Jean Carroll because “she’s not my type.” In Trump-world, it’s reasonable to insult the physical traits of any woman who opposes him, despite his own grotesque appearance. If he wins this November, we are very much back in Stepford. Given the stakes, the 50th anniversary of “The Stepford Wives” couldn’t be taking place at a more perfect time. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/28/2258618/-From-Stepford-to-Trump-World-The-Stepford-Wives-Couldn-t-Be-Timelier-at-50?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/