39 pages • 1 hour read
The Stepford Wives
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Photography
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.
Sexuality
Sexuality is a prevalent motif in The Stepford Wives and is woven throughout the novel as a demonstration of the contrast between liberated women and women who are still living within the patriarchal confines of mid-century American society. When they first move to Stepford, Joanna and Walter have a healthy sex life and Joanna has a healthy attitude toward sex: She enjoys it and sees it as a mutually beneficial bonding experience. Joanna’s healthy attitude toward sex seems to be in isolation, as the women around her all view sex in one of two ways: They either see it as something they do to please their husbands, and dress in a sexualized manner for their husbands’ sake, or they view it as something which is detestable and degrading, and which no woman could possibly enjoy. Before being replaced by a robot, Charmaine professes that she cannot stand the thought of sex with either men or women. This is an indication that, for the members of the Men’s Association, an asexual woman is as dangerous as a sexually liberated one because in both cases, the woman can engage in or abstain from sexual activity according to her own desires, rather than being available whenever they want her. Sexual freedom is nullified for the women of Stepford because the robots cannot experience sexual pleasure—they cannot experience anything. Since sexuality and asexuality are inherent parts of human experience, the women of Stepford must lose their lives in order to satisfy their husbands’ desires for wives that do not possess sexual free will.
Technology
In The Stepford Wives, technology represents humanity’s greatest potential for both good and evil. As such, the novel contains a warning against the immoral use of technology. Animatronic robots were new in the 1970s; they were novel because for the first time, life-size robots could mimic people. Though there was no danger of confusing an animatronic robot for a real person in the 1970s, the possibility that such advances may not be far away spurred writers like Levin to imagine where the technology could lead.
Technology is not an individual enterprise. Unlike Dr. Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein, who constructed his monster in a secret laboratory, Dale needs the resources of the entire town to create his Stepford wives. It is no accident that Stepford is home to several technology plants that produce computers, microchips, and other technological products. Dale’s previous position as an engineer at Disneyland is significant because at the time, Disney was the leader in animatronic designs. This shows how the technology used to create the Stepford wives is closely connected to popular consumer culture; Disney’s animatronic presidents were a source of entertainment, just as the Stepford wives are entertainment for their husbands.
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