That was a problematic sub-plot in a lot of '80s comedies of varying quality (“Revenge of the Nerds”, “16 Candles”, and “Porky’s” immediately come to mind). I can’t put the trope down to being a specifically conservative ideological statement but rather ascribe it to the casually sexist nature of American culture at the time.
That’s closer to it being conservative and anti-statist, but really I just think they needed the obligatory authority-figure villain and an EPA bureaucrat fit the bill for the plot.
