The advice given in this book is based on Ephesians 5:22-33, Titus 2 – 3, Timothy 2:10-2:12, Colossians 3:18, Proverbs 31 and a few more. In a nutshell, be happy, be delighted, enjoy your food, enjoy loving your husband, cherish your kids, have pride in running your home, be modest in your dress and adornment, take care of yourself, take care of your physical attributes, be pure, don’t fool around, be attractive, be always available emotionally and sexually to your husband, compliment your husband, create the mood, be kind to your children, be kind to your husband, don’t question him and if you do, let him make the final decision, just trust god. And of course, be submissive, obedient, meek, gentle, and a quiet helpmeet to your husband.

We ladies at the organization see absolutely nothing wrong with any of this. We feel it is the natural order of things, and the natural position of the wife. It’s worked for hundreds of years in cultures all around the world. Feminism – the kind that encouraged women to abandon homemaking and go compete with men outside the home – ran out of steam in less than 25 years. It’s not trendy to be a homemaker, let alone a religious one. But trends come and go, sound marriages last a lifetime.

The author saves the dynamite for the last chapter. Shrill naysayers will undoubtedly scream murder when a woman is instructed to be submissive to her husband. But Mahaney states very specifically on pg 137 that the Book of Genesis, at the very beginning of the Bible states that both male and female are created in the image of god, and therefore equal. It isn’t about inferiority or being in a demeaning position. Submission, in this context, echos the church’s submission to Christ, and Christ’s sacrificial love. The chapter “The Beauty of Submission” goes on to say that at no point, was there a call for women to submit to any and every man, only wife to husband. Also, she does advise that when husbands makechoices that are detrimental to the family “requesting assistance in such circumstances is helping the husband.” I have seen reviewers say that the author recommends praying for all situations. That’s simply inaccurate.

Even if you are not religious, there are many chapters of sound advice. If you are familiar with advice books from the 1900s, you will see many familiar ideas here. As an added bonus, look especially for the passages quoting a number of husbands on how they are made to feel cherished by their wives, as well as a section on children talking about the tenderness of their moms.

The book is separated into three sections. The Main Body by Carolyn Mahaney (158 pages), A Study Guide and Questions section corresponding to each chapter (22 pages), and a short appendix with footnotes and bibliography that points to further reading.

A drunkard husband spending the evening with his jovial companions at a tavern boasted that if he should take a group of his friends home with him at midnight and ask his Christian wife to get up and cook supper for them, she would do it without complaint. The crowd considered it a vain boast and dared him to try it by a considerable wager. So the drunken crowd went home with him and he made the unreasonable demands of his wife. She obeyed, dressed, came down, and prepared a very nice supper just as quickly as possible and served it as cheerfully as if she had been expecting them.

(the above is an excerpt from Pastor Walt D Hyuck Jr.’s wonderful sermon How To Be A Successful Wife, which can be read or heard, in its entirety, at his website (click here): This Christian Journey)

I look around and compare versions of biblical passages ( i.e. Titus 2:4 for example) as a harmless pastime. I try to find passages pertaining to marriage and wives. I can’t say I’m a devout Christian, though my father was raised Catholic, and my mother thought at a convent from the day I was born until I was 10. We eventually changed over to Protestant. I guess that’s where my comparative itch came from.

Though Stepfordwife.com / Stepford Wives Organization is non-religious and certainly non-denominational, I thought all our readers would enjoy this wonderful sermon. If you have the time, click on the audio portion, as a voice always adds a livelier tone to the text. Even if you are an atheist, you will find plenty sensible advice in this gem.