The Stepford Wives language after the publication of Levin's book and it is generally used as a derogatory term which refers to a submissive and docile wife who seems to conform blindly to the stereotype of an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her husband. It is sometimes used in reference to any woman, even an accomplished professional woman, who had subordinated her life or career to her husband's interests and who affected submission and devotion to him even in the face of the husband's public problems and disgrace. The Stepford Wives The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical thriller novel by Ira
Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon seldom achieved in the cinema." They judge that Shirakawa gives the film, "a wide-eyed innocence that is both fresh and convincing." The success of "Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon" inspired 20 direct sequels—four in 1972—and numerous unofficial sequels and series. Shōgorō Nishimura became a regular Nikkatsu director, helming seven of the "Apartment Wife" sequels. Kazuko Shirakawa became Nikkatsu's first Roman Porno queen. Though she appeared in only the first "Apartment Wife" sequel, titles to unrelated films in which she starred, such as "Afternoon Affair: Rear Window" and "Affair At Twilight" (both 1972), capitalized on the success of her first