Stepford stories

[Rob_Royale]

I've long been keen on the whole Stepford Wives idea and I've been pondering what to do with it. Last night the idea of Stepford Sons popped into my head and it's a proper brain worm, I'll tell you that.

It will be my first full swan dive into mom/son incest, where it's the primary focus.

I've lots of ideas and the cast is starting to coalesce in my brain. But it begs the question, who else has written something Stepford-esque? I'd like to really get immersed in it.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I've long been keen on the whole Stepford Wives idea and I've been pondering what to do with it. Last night the idea of Stepford Sons popped into my head and it's a proper brain worm, I'll tell you that.

It will be my first full swan dive into mom/son incest, where it's the primary focus.

I've lots of ideas and the cast is starting to coalesce in my brain. But it begs the question, who else has written something Stepford-esque? I'd like to really get immersed in it.

I was only slightly familiar with the term but if the google summary is anything like what you're talking about, I'm pretty sure this is my main series (once it gets off the ground). Right now it's only reflected in my "How to," though.

Is being a non-robot Stepford Wife the same as a 24/7 Total Power Exchange type relationship?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I don't like that the original movie went into robots.

It could have been a really good bimbofication type story line and I thought it was at first. Standard, run of the mill suburban wives gone bimbo would have been great. Mind you my idea of a bimbo is not what many see it as. My idea is more like the Stepford Wives without being robots.

No idea how you'd do that with a son though.

 

[dirk2024]

I don't like that the original movie went into robots.

It could have been a really good bimbofication type story line and I thought it was at first. Standard, run of the mill suburban wives gone bimbo would have been great. Mind you my idea of a bimbo is not what many see it as. My idea is more like the Stepford Wives without being robots.

No idea how you'd do that with a son though.

I agree, no robots. This should be a human thing. So either mind control through intellectual manipulation or something in the water that only affects estrogen bearing people. (or an outright drug)

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

No MC. No drugs. No manipulation.

Training. Conditioning. Convincing. Behavior modification through actions/rewards systems. They must want to change and there must be something in it for them.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I agree, no robots. This should be a human thing. So either mind control through intellectual manipulation or something in the water that only affects estrogen bearing people. (or an outright drug)

As women are so easy to manipulate intellectually, right?

And estrogen is present in men as well, just at different levels. You’d all have osteoporosis otherwise. This place sometimes.

 

[crookedletter]

I've long been keen on the whole Stepford Wives idea and I've been pondering what to do with it. Last night the idea of Stepford Sons popped into my head and it's a proper brain worm, I'll tell you that.

It will be my first full swan dive into mom/son incest, where it's the primary focus.

I've lots of ideas and the cast is starting to coalesce in my brain. But it begs the question, who else has written something Stepford-esque? I'd like to really get immersed in it.

Have you read the original novel? I haven't personally, but if you want to get immersed in it I would think that would be a pretty good place to start.

 

[dirk2024]

As women are so easy to manipulate intellectually, right?

And estrogen is present in men as well, just at different levels. You’d all have osteoporosis otheriwise. This place sometimes.

I didn't say it would be easy.

I'm just working on the fly here, trying to be helpful and failing.

 

[Statius]

Confused. Are the wives/ mothers controlling the sons or being controlled by the sons? If the latter, I'm with @EmilyMiller on this one.

 

[crookedletter]

Stepford Sons makes me think parents -- I guess specifically mothers -- would be brainwashing their sons to conform to some "ideal" version of a son.

My understanding is if you're actually playing off and referencing the original, there is a kind of darkness to it. I don't think you're supposed to ultimately think this is a good thing. Though I guess you can take that seed and run with it in whatever direction you want.

 

[Rob_Royale]

No MC. No drugs. No manipulation.
Training. Conditioning. Convincing. Behavior modification through actions/rewards systems. They must want to change and there must be something in it for them.

This would be the moms changing their sons through medication and psychology/hypnosis.

Have you read the original novel? I haven't personally, but if you want to get immersed in it I would think that would be a pretty good place to start.

No, I have not. Good idea though.

No robots. I'm using the word Stepford only as a way to let the reader know this is behavior modification story. It will be the name of the street our MCs move to in the beginning of the story. It will be the only reference to that book/ film. I'll be keeping the cast to four homes on a cul-de-sac.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Stepford Sons makes me think parents -- I guess specifically mothers -- would be brainwashing their sons to conform to some "ideal" version of a son.

My understanding is if you're actually playing off and referencing the original, there is a kind of darkness to it. I don't think you're supposed to ultimately think this is a good thing. Though I guess you can take that seed and run with it in whatever direction you want.

That's my thought, yes.

 

[RetroFan]

There was another movie that had an interesting take on the Stepford scenario only with teenagers, 'Disturbing Behavior' from 1998. Notable for starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl when they were young and relative unknowns, it is set in a town where there is a group of perfect teenagers known as the 'Blue Ribbons' and the parents of Marsden and Holmes troubled teenage characters seek to enrol their son and daughter in the Blue Ribbon program to turn them into versions of their preppy classmates.

However the Blue Ribbon program is in fact a ruse for mind control experiments, and all of the young people in this group were formerly troubled or troublesome teenagers who have undergone this reprogramming. And there are some major problems with the procedures, as these brain-washed teenagers act very strangely when confronted by their prior vices display some odd behavior when temptation enters their minds. Sometimes it can be relatively minor - for example a former fat kid goes into the fetal position on the floor when tempted by unhealthy food and an African-American teenager rocks back and forth when he is tempted by rap music - but some are worse like a girl who was previously very promiscuous smashes her head into a pane of glass when tempted by sex.

If writing a Stepford story watching Disturbing Behavior would be a good idea, but good luck finding it as it was a commercial failure at release and largely forgotten over 25 years later. I personally liked it, I thought it was one of those good movies that didn't deserve to flop. Does anyone else remember Disturbing Behavior and if so what did you think of it?

 

[Eisenloewe]

Have you read the original novel? I haven't personally, but if you want to get immersed in it I would think that would be a pretty good place to start.

This would be the moms changing their sons through medication and psychology/hypnosis.

No, I have not. Good idea though.

No robots. I'm using the word Stepford only as a way to let the reader know this is behavior modification story. It will be the name of the street our MCs move to in the beginning of the story. It will be the only reference to that book/ film. I'll be keeping the cast to four homes on a cul-de-sac.

Fair warning, the original book and movie both did go the robots route. They were dystopian horrors, subversive in the sense of the dystopia convincingly masquerading as a utopia at first glance.

I played with the setting in a meta sense in a Humor & Satire story I did for this site for the April Fool's competition last year (https://www.literotica.com/s/all-the-worlds-a-stage-3), but fair warning, there is no actual Stepfordization in my story nor is the setting Stepford or an analogue. It's definitely aware of the book and both movies' settings, though, because I had just read the book a few weeks before writing that story, and I saw the movies a while ago, so my characters discuss all three.

 

[TheRedChamber]

As women are so easy to manipulate intellectually, right?

And estrogen is present in men as well, just at different levels. You’d all have osteoporosis otherwise. This place sometimes.

You're obviously unaware of the role of the 'handwave' in Sci-Fi. Clue - it's also not possible to clone dinosaurs from mosquitos trapped in amber - but its cooler if we pretend it is.

Still there's a good plot bunny there about the woman who is immune to the Stratford Effect because her estrogen level is too low and the guy who get affected by it because his is too high (Hilarity ensues)

 

[nice90sguy]

The movie is in my Sci Fi collection (which has mainly "smart" SF movies, except for the Marvel Franchise and the Superman movies, the Star Wars series, and, er... a ton of other stupid but fun stuff).

I can see the appeal of the movie as a female submissive fantasy (but "bimbofication" isn't quite right -- '50's housewives weren't bimbos).

Of course the whole point of the movie is a commentary on the disrupting effect of women's lib on both men and women. I love it because of all the sexy women.

 

[AlinaX]

There was another movie that had an interesting take on the Stepford scenario only with teenagers, 'Disturbing Behavior' from 1998. Notable for starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl when they were young and relative unknowns, it is set in a town where there is a group of perfect teenagers known as the 'Blue Ribbons' and the parents of Marsden and Holmes troubled teenage characters seek to enrol their son and daughter in the Blue Ribbon program to turn them into versions of their preppy classmates.

However the Blue Ribbon program is in fact a ruse for mind control experiments, and all of the young people in this group were formerly troubled or troublesome teenagers who have undergone this reprogramming. And there are some major problems with the procedures, as these brain-washed teenagers act very strangely when confronted by their prior vices display some odd behavior when temptation enters their minds. Sometimes it can be relatively minor - for example a former fat kid goes into the fetal position on the floor when tempted by unhealthy food and an African-American teenager rocks back and forth when he is tempted by rap music - but some are worse like a girl who was previously very promiscuous smashes her head into a pane of glass when tempted by sex.

If writing a Stepford story watching Disturbing Behavior would be a good idea, but good luck finding it as it was a commercial failure at release and largely forgotten over 25 years later. I personally liked it, I thought it was one of those good movies that didn't deserve to flop. Does anyone else remember Disturbing Behavior and if so what did you think of it?

Love that film!

 

[AlinaX]

The whole point of the Stepford Wives is the fragility of men who would prefer a simulacrum of their wife to a free thinking human. I’m pretty sure the lead engineer was a Disney animatronics expert.

As soon as you ditch the robot concept, you end up in mind control territory and there must be hundreds of stories here where husbands rewrite their wives’ personalities.

 

[AlinaX]

Want to make it true horror? Have the wife trapped inside the obedient version of herself.

 

[Statius]

Want to make it true horror? Have the wife trapped inside the obedient version of herself.

That would make a good horror version

 

[AlinaX]

Stephen Donaldson’s Gap series has Angus, a violent, murderous pirate, welded into a state-of-the-art cyborg and its computer core is able to completely control him when necessary. As much as we hate and fear him, what is done to him is shown to be a cruel and horrifying imprisonment.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

You're obviously unaware of the role of the 'handwave' in Sci-Fi. Clue - it's also not possible to clone dinosaurs from mosquitos trapped in amber - but its cooler if we pretend it is.

Still there's a good plot bunny there about the woman who is immune to the Stratford Effect because her estrogen level is too low and the guy who get affected by it because his is too high (Hilarity ensues)

Next thing you'll tell us robots that are completely indistinguishable from humans aren't realistic!
You expect someone to actually focus on writing and story when there is the chance to cosplay Wish dot com Bill Nye?

 

[EmilyMiller]

The whole point of the Stepford Wives is the fragility of men who would prefer a simulacrum of their wife to a free thinking human.

This

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

That would make a good horror version

And erotic horror? She's gotta femdom the submissive version of herself into giving control of her own damn body back.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

As women are so easy to manipulate intellectually, right?

And estrogen is present in men as well, just at different levels. You’d all have osteoporosis otherwise. This place sometimes.

It's a cult. What all of this sounds like is a cult. The women aren't just manipulated, they are indoctrinated. And with each generation it gets worse as the children stop questioning. It's just how things are.

And that's how you tie in the moms and sons. You could even have a prequel where the women take over the cult - former human Stepford wives (see the discussion of how this takes on an erotic horror element if you want to go that way, but seriously, cult de-programming is a thing) who are now "teaching" their sons how to be better men than their now ex-husbands/former cult leaders. They are de-programming them, but with a focus on not just getting an ideal sex son, but getting one who knows how to treat a lady right.


OP: I might recommend reading up on or watching some videos on (I think Crash Course might even have one?) the psychology of cults. Is it mind control? Yea, probably. But of a much more evil sort.