Swapping the Suburban Housewife for the NYC Feminist: Susan Seidelman and her Personas

In Susan Seidelman’s 1992 documentary Confessions of a Suburban Girl, Seidelman narrates a story about her rebellious phase in high school while juxtaposing footage of herself driving by suburban houses in her childhood neighborhood. Reminiscent of Betty Friedan’s detective-like inquiries into suburban housewives’ lives in The Feminine Mystique, Seidelman’s documentary features interviews, or confessions, from her neighborhood friends 20 years after she’s left for New York City. Her friends’ lives did not fulfill the suburban fantasy promised. Many confessions are filmed in front of looming childhood houses, or the women sit in pairs, looking like doubles. Seidelman couples these confessionals with footage from Desperately Seeking Susan, She-Devil, Cookie, and Smithereens, suggesting relationships with her fictional films. Miriam Bale coined the term “persona swap” to describe films featuring a “distinctly feminine experience” where two women swap, steal, or merge personas to “solve the mystery of who she is” (Bale). Seidelman’s take on the persona swap throughout her work is a distinctly feminist strategy, a way to break the housewife from her suburban façade, where she can become a more independent, free person on the gritty streets of New York City.