Analysis Of Hope Edelman's The Myth Of Coparenting

1355 Words3 Pages

In her essay “The Myth of Coparenting: How it is supposed to be. How it is,” Hope Edelman discusses the issues that she faces when dealing with marriage roles. According to her descriptions, her husband doesn’t play an active role in their domestic life and only focuses on his career. Edelman often gets into arguments with him over his disinterest and lack of contribution to home life. She responds to this lack of interest by buying a swing set along with other items against the husband’s wishes. Similarly, Eric Bartels’ essay “My Problem with Her Anger” discusses the effects of marital roles from the husband’s perspective. He argues that although he is not the most active with domestic life, he does contribute. Bartels claims that his wife’s anger makes it hard for the family to function. Bartels proves his dedication to their family by showing how he gives up drinking beer in order to dedicate more time to helping out around the house. Both Edelman and Bartels express love for their children and frustration at their spouse. As a result of this, references to the swing set in Edelman’s essay and to beer in Bartels’ essay reveal that when there is a disagreement between the husband and wife in a marriage, it is possible that one of the partners will express their emotion through rebellion against his spouse …show more content…

The language Edelman uses when the swingset bought displayed during her rebellion displays this intense emotion: “One day I said f**k it, and I took John’s credit card and bought a swing set” (Edelman 55). The use of cursing when the tone of the rest of the essay is more formal highlights the passionate irritation she has with her husband. Edelman has an intense need to express her sentiments because they are not acknowledged when she talks to her husband. By rebelling and buying the swingset her husband is forced to acknowledge the anger she

Open Document