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Authors: Deborah Schwartz
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‘Nothing in there’.”
“But they can’t be happy. Can they?” Zoë asked.
“Why not? They don’t have to drag themselves out of bed to work when they don’t want to. They have tons of money, spend weeks in Europe and at spas every year, and all they have to do is keep their mouth shut while their narcissistic rich husbands do their thing,” I answered.
“But, it’s not us. Can you imagine being so stifled? It’s like being a prisoner in a marriage,” Bonnie said.
“These women are not the ‘social X-rays’ that Tom Wolfe wrote about in Bonfire. They’re a step below the sophisticated Manhattan socialites who are at least into charities and museum work,” I said.
“Who are they?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know but what does this mean for our daughters?” I asked her.
Rachel had two ambitious daughters, an actress making it on Broadway, and a daughter in medical school. She couldn’t be concerned.
“Do we teach them to be gold diggers so they can marry rich men and live soft lives?” I continued. “Or do we tell them to be like us, women who most of these rich men can’t handle?”
A rare silence enveloped our table.
“Why’d you work so hard to get into Harvard and Harvard Law School? You could have just married a rich man and had a soft life,” I asked Zoë.
“I love my work. Aren’t you missing that point?”
“I do too. I can’t picture living such empty lives. And imagine how bored their husbands must get with them,” Rachel responded. We all knew that she had left her first husband after he refused to let her go to Yale Law School.
“What happens to these women when their fifty-five-year old husbands trade them in for thirty-year olds? They’re nothing. At least we have our work,” Bonnie said.
“One night we had dinner with a couple who just bought a huge mansion. The wife did nothing; the husband another big success in finance. Both of their kids were about to leave for college. I asked the wife why they’d bought such a big place at this time in their life and she actually said that she felt bored and this was her new project. Her husband was happy to comply.”
“Would you want to be one of these women? Kate, you could be one, if you marry Len,” Zoë said.
“I guess I can see why certain of these women would be seduced, they might not have other choices. But we are not those women. I feel so schizophrenic about my experiences in Len’s world. I want to take the moral high ground and yet I’m not running away from Len and his friends. But I will always work. These are the Stepford wives,” I answered.
“But what kind of compromises are you willing to make to be in that world? There is the security of a lot of money.” Bonnie said.
“I care about Len and I don’t think it’s about the security of money,” I said.
“Think about it, Kate. How far are you willing to go to be with Len?” Bonnie asked once more.
“I just don’t know yet. I just don’t know.”
My friends and I had to pause the deliberations. Four very confident, successful lawyers appeared lost, lacking any experience navigating their way through Len’s world.
The following week Len and I had dinner with one of his best friends, Brad and his wife, Catherine, an elegantly dressed woman and wearing much less jewelry than Linda. Brad had also made millions and was on an airplane five days a week traveling the globe for business.
We met at La Grenouille, a sumptuous little restaurant I had never been to before. Enormous vases of fresh flowers filled the small opulent room.
One could tell that Brad seemed pleased with himself by the smug smile he maintained on his face.
“I’ll take the wine list” he told the waiter and then ordered two bottles of Cabernet at $150 a bottle.
“So Len, I was in Asia last week. Quite a trip. Hong Kong for two days, Singapore for two and back to Hong Kong for one. Very productive.”
“Did you close the deal?” Len asked.
Catherine leaned
“But they can’t be happy. Can they?” Zoë asked.
“Why not? They don’t have to drag themselves out of bed to work when they don’t want to. They have tons of money, spend weeks in Europe and at spas every year, and all they have to do is keep their mouth shut while their narcissistic rich husbands do their thing,” I answered.
“But, it’s not us. Can you imagine being so stifled? It’s like being a prisoner in a marriage,” Bonnie said.
“These women are not the ‘social X-rays’ that Tom Wolfe wrote about in Bonfire. They’re a step below the sophisticated Manhattan socialites who are at least into charities and museum work,” I said.
“Who are they?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know but what does this mean for our daughters?” I asked her.
Rachel had two ambitious daughters, an actress making it on Broadway, and a daughter in medical school. She couldn’t be concerned.
“Do we teach them to be gold diggers so they can marry rich men and live soft lives?” I continued. “Or do we tell them to be like us, women who most of these rich men can’t handle?”
A rare silence enveloped our table.
“Why’d you work so hard to get into Harvard and Harvard Law School? You could have just married a rich man and had a soft life,” I asked Zoë.
“I love my work. Aren’t you missing that point?”
“I do too. I can’t picture living such empty lives. And imagine how bored their husbands must get with them,” Rachel responded. We all knew that she had left her first husband after he refused to let her go to Yale Law School.
“What happens to these women when their fifty-five-year old husbands trade them in for thirty-year olds? They’re nothing. At least we have our work,” Bonnie said.
“One night we had dinner with a couple who just bought a huge mansion. The wife did nothing; the husband another big success in finance. Both of their kids were about to leave for college. I asked the wife why they’d bought such a big place at this time in their life and she actually said that she felt bored and this was her new project. Her husband was happy to comply.”
“Would you want to be one of these women? Kate, you could be one, if you marry Len,” Zoë said.
“I guess I can see why certain of these women would be seduced, they might not have other choices. But we are not those women. I feel so schizophrenic about my experiences in Len’s world. I want to take the moral high ground and yet I’m not running away from Len and his friends. But I will always work. These are the Stepford wives,” I answered.
“But what kind of compromises are you willing to make to be in that world? There is the security of a lot of money.” Bonnie said.
“I care about Len and I don’t think it’s about the security of money,” I said.
“Think about it, Kate. How far are you willing to go to be with Len?” Bonnie asked once more.
“I just don’t know yet. I just don’t know.”
My friends and I had to pause the deliberations. Four very confident, successful lawyers appeared lost, lacking any experience navigating their way through Len’s world.
The following week Len and I had dinner with one of his best friends, Brad and his wife, Catherine, an elegantly dressed woman and wearing much less jewelry than Linda. Brad had also made millions and was on an airplane five days a week traveling the globe for business.
We met at La Grenouille, a sumptuous little restaurant I had never been to before. Enormous vases of fresh flowers filled the small opulent room.
One could tell that Brad seemed pleased with himself by the smug smile he maintained on his face.
“I’ll take the wine list” he told the waiter and then ordered two bottles of Cabernet at $150 a bottle.
“So Len, I was in Asia last week. Quite a trip. Hong Kong for two days, Singapore for two and back to Hong Kong for one. Very productive.”
“Did you close the deal?” Len asked.
Catherine leaned
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