The exploration of the the concept of a woman's wants in the two films, "Mona Lisa Smile" (
directed by Mike Newell) and "Stepford
Wives (directed by Frank Oz)," leads to the discovery that just because women want certain things like being free thinkers or equal in status as men, it does not necessarily mean that women will be getting these things. Women have wanted things since the word "want" became what it is. The paper shows that the
challenge is not in identifying what we as women want and what we as women need. The real challenge lies in doing something about these wants, fighting for whatever "wants" we have gained and for future "wants" we may need to gain in order to ensure harmony in
society. In modern society's confusion between family and career, this paper examines what women should want as suggested by the two films.