Authority and Autonomy in "Farmer Wants a Wife"

 

Depicted above is a cover photo of one of Fox’s new reality shows, “Farmer Wants a Wife”. Although this image fails to characterize the entirety of the show, it nonetheless represents both the majority of the show’s content and several of the claims that Weber posits in “Authority and Autonomy” (2003).

In “Authority and Autonomy”, Weber states that “...the woman was the property of the man…at the beginning of all history” (86). Although the norms and rules that govern marriage have changed since, vestiges of patriarchalism still exist today. If one considers the text in the image, then one might notice that there’s a distinctive sign shape around the word “wife”, which seems to suggest that one’s wife and property are inseparable, or at least interlinked. If we take Weber’s historical analysis of authority to be true, then it seems that this sign is suggestive of the show’s endorsement of “primitive patriarchalism”, or unequal economic relations between husband and wife (e.g., “right of ownership over [the wife]”) (86). When we consider the show’s title (i.e., text superimposed on the image), which designates the potential husband (“farmer”) as the individual who will “dictate and control the…life” of the other (“wife”), the show’s endorsement of authority becomes even clearer (92).

Although this image strongly suggests that the show encourages/promotes authoritarianism, it also suggests that both farmer and wife are - and need to be - autonomous individuals who voluntarily subordinate themselves to one another. Perhaps unlike some other reality love shows (e.g., “The Bachelor/ette”), “Farmer Wants a Wife” explicitly promotes “legalized monogamy” and what Weber would call the ideal-typical relationship between “farmer” and wife via its positioning of two individuals who are smiling (suggests spiritual, intellectual vitality that both share), snuggling (suggests sexuality, but might not suggest the eroticism that Weber was opposed to), and possibly falling in love (indicated by the chalk on each individual’s boots) (87).

In spite of its mixed theoretical messaging, this image provides evidence that some contemporary relationships are predicated on both authority and autonomy.

Sources --

Weber, Marianne and Craig R. Bermingham. 2003. “Authority and Autonomy in Marriage.” Sociological Theory 85–102. 

1,280 × 720 (image)