Marabel Morgan

Marabel Morgan (25 June 1937-) is an American author of self-help books for married women, including The Total Woman (1973), Total Joy (1983), The Total Woman Cookbook (1980) and The Electric Woman (1986).

The Total Woman sold more than ten million copies and was the bestselling nonfiction book of 1974.[1] Grounded in evangelical Christianity, it taught that "A Total Woman caters to her man's special quirks, whether it be in salads, sex or sports,"[2] and is perhaps best remembered for instructing wives to greet their man at the front door wearing sexy outfits; suggestions included "a cowgirl or a showgirl." "It's only when a woman surrenders her life to her husband, reveres and worships him and is willing to serve him, that she becomes really beautiful to him," Morgan wrote.

These lessons were reiterated in Morgan's popular Total Woman Seminars. Due in part to her sunny disposition and facility with soundbites, Morgan became an unofficial spokesperson for opposition to the women's movement. She was a regular guest on The Phil Donahue Show, was featured on the cover of Time Magazine,[3] and was named one of the most influential women in America by People magazine and the 1975 World Almanac.[4]

Morgan was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1987 and currently works in the health industry.[5]

Also, " The runaway best seller that's working miracles for marriage!" as it was writing in her book. More than that, she also wrote in her book "I do believe it is possible for almost any wife to have her husband absolutely adore her in just a few weeks' time. She can revive romance, reestablish communication, break down barriers, and put sizzle back into her marriage. It really is up to her. She has the power." The Total Woman is a daily program she developed to restore zest to her own flagging marriage. It's fun. It's challenging. And it's guaranteed to work. This was the extract from Morgan's Book "The Total Woman (How To Make Your Marriage Come alive!)"

In popular culture

An episode of the popular sitcom Maude entitled "Feminine Fulfillment" (28 February 1977) dealt with main character Maude Findlay's best friend Vivian Harmon giving herself over to "Feminine Fulfillment" (also the name of the episode), which Maude says is "like Total Woman." Vivian, expecting her husband Arthur, shocks Maude and her husband Walter by opening her door to them in a trench coat, revealing herself to be wrapped in saran wrap. "Total Woman" is again referenced later in the episode, when more aspects of the movement are elucidated. Maude, a staunch feminist, is incensed by her friend's change, and confronts what she believes is her husband's growing interest in being pampered in this manner by seemingly also dressing in saran wrap under a trench coat and greeting a male neighbour who knocks on the Findlays' door.[6]

In an episode of James Garner's NBC-TV series The Rockford Files entitled "Trouble in Chapter 17" (23 September 1977), the character of Anne Louise Clement (Claudette Nevins), who believes her book on how to be the perfect wife is the cause of the death threats against her and for whom Jim must act as bodyguard, is closely based on Marabel Morgan.[7]

A 1978 episode of Rhoda also dealt with the topic. Although the book carries a different title in the episode ("How to Be a Different Woman in Every Room"), the episode is entitled "The Total Brenda." In it, Rhoda's sister Brenda takes to wearing frilly dresses and fulfilling her fiancé's perceived fantasies on a variety of levels, much to the chagrin of liberated Rhoda.[8]

In the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes, the character played by Kathy Bates attempts to seduce her husband by wrapping herself in saran wrap, a method promoted in The Total Woman.[9]

In a 2000 episode ("Rory's Dance") of Gilmore Girls, Lorelai (played by Lauren Graham) jokingly tells her mother (Kelly Bishop) that she would have come to the door to let her in, but she didn't have any saran wrap.[10]

References

Morgan, Marabel. The Total Woman. Old Tappan, N.J.: F. H. Revell, 1973.

  1. ↑ Publisher's Weekly
  2. ↑ Time magazine
  3. ↑ Time magazine
  4. ↑ The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
  5. ↑ Marabel Morgan - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society
  6. ↑ "Feminine Fulfillment" at TV.com
  7. ↑ Stempel, Tom (1996). Storytellers to the nation: a history of American television writing. Syracuse University Press. p. 181.
  8. ↑ Rhoda, "The Total Brenda" plot summary at IMDb
  9. ↑ Oppenheimer, Mark (November 30, 1999). "In the Biblical Sense". Slate.
  10. ↑ "Gilmore Girls 1.09 'Rory's Dance'" at gilmorenews.com

External links


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