Q&A Forum - April 2010 (The best of Elise)

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In the 1960’s and early 70’s the patriarchy was still in control so the themes of these shows were that the men were in charge for no other reason than society said so. Jeannie was in submission to her Master, even though she had all the power. Samantha was in submission to Darren only because he was the husband. When you think about it, these two shows were a perfect representation of the patriarchal society. Women possessed the power but men deceived them into being in submission because society demanded that the man be in charge. Jeannie was not unlike most wives in our society in the 1960’s and 70’s (and sadly still some wives today). While the wife could not wield supernatural power like Jeannie, she did wield sexual power that renders man powerless. But just like Jeannie, the wife surrendered that power over to her male master because he wanted her to conform to the societal model.

Jeannie could have given Major Nelson a life beyond anything he could have imagined but his male pride prevented him. He would rather be well thought of by society (the breadwinner, the king of his castle) than live a fairytale life with this powerful woman. The only way he would allow Jeannie to stay is if she didn’t use her power. The parallels to the reality of the natures of men and women living in a patriarchal society could not be more profound.