The Stepford Wives

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of sexual activity and psychological horror.

Photography is a prominent symbol in The Stepford Wives, representing Joanna’s desire to be her own person, liberate herself as a woman, and expose the social injustices she observes in the world. Taking photographs means capturing the world as she sees it, rather than according to the dominant narrative. Joanna is a representative of second-wave feminism, in which women sought rights beyond the legal; they wanted to be treated as equal human beings on an everyday level, allowed to be as sexual or asexual as they pleased and prove that they were equally capable of performing any job, creating something meaningful, or showing their intelligence whatever way they chose. Joanna attempts to prove all of these things, but her efforts are ultimately inconsequential as her fight against the local patriarchy fails. Her gaze is replaced by a robotic one that only reflects the men’s desire for dominance. On a narrative level, Joanna’s photography is a catalyst for her suspicion of the Men’s Association. Where she initially saw it as a sexist and possibly harmful organization, her experience with the policeman on the night that she attempts to photograph the town center causes her to believe it is something more sinister.