In Judy Brady’s essay “I want a Wife”(1971), she addresses men’s expectation of their wives. She achieves this by building up her credibility and relatability, gives an examples, uses repetition, and implements satire and humor into her writing. Brady wrote this piece in order to address the unfair gender relations and inequalities in society during the time period.
In the first paragraph of “I want a Wife”, Brady builds up her credibility on the subject of wives by stating that she is a wife. She also says that she is a mother. This makes herself relatable to her audience. This also makes herself relatable to her audience. This essay was published in the premier issue of Ms. Magazine, which is an American magazine for women that voices feminist issues. A lot of these readers are also wives and mothers so, by saying that she is both a mother and wife, she is making herself more relatable. This helps her purpose because her readers are more willing to listen to her.
…show more content…
He had recently got a divorce and was looking for a new wife. This gives an example to her audience of some of the unfair gender relations and inequalities that were so common during that time period and is sometimes still seen today. This story also acts as an introduction and leads us to the rest of her essay. She states that she too, would like a wife and continues in the rest of the passage as to why she would want a wife.
Additionally, Brady constantly uses the phrases “I want a wife” and “my wife” throughout the passage. This is called repetition. Repetition can be used to emphasize a point. It is also used, in this case, to conveys Brady’s tone. A lot of repetition is tiresome and persistent, which is the tone she puts in her
In the short story ?Why I want a wife? by Judy Brady, she goes into detail what being a wife is like. The tedious details of day to day activities, the strain and hard work of being a ?good wife?, and the unappreciated service a wife must perform to be accepted by her husband. This story made me feel like, the author
At the beginning of her article she states how frustrating it was to be at the age she was and still not married or in a committed relationship. She had long relationships in high school up until her late 20’s but at 39 she was stuck. She wasn’t in any relationship but was finally ready for marriage; but the pool was small she was either going to have to stay single or just to settle. She had taken up her mother’s feminist ideas that she could be independent and didn’t have to marry or be with someone just because it was the societal norm. “I see now, is in keeping with a post¬ Boomer ideology that values emotional fulfillment above all else. And the elevation of independence over coupling (“I wasn’t ready to settle down”) is a second¬-wave feminist idea I’d acquired from my mother, who had embraced
Other times, falls back on her basis of emotional appeal with statements such as, “A woman will not understand what true dependency is until she is cradling her own infant in her arms” (752). This is a result of the love and devotion she provides for her two children (Reimer). Crittenden looks to fit the profile for a woman who was the founder of a controversial feminist magazine, Women's Quarterly. She has a college degree and has spent quite a bit of time working in the "man's world". Currently she is a CEO, however the part that doesn't fit is that she is happily married and a mother, who stayed home with her children when they were young. Now Crittenden stresses that marriage is an uplifting, joyous experience: “We have ceased to look down the tunnel, waiting for a train” (753). She acknowledges that those in the past have almost been forced to give up their independence because they married so young, but she counters it with wise words like, “By waiting and waiting and waiting to commit to someone, our capacity for love shrinks and withers” (752). Though it’s a big risk, the good far outweighs the bad, both emotionally and logically. Salvation lies within, eternal happiness is in your grasp…all you have to do is grow up, get married, and have
1. Daisy illustrates the typical women of high social standing; her life is moulded by society’s expectations. She is dependent and subservient to her husband. She is powerless in her marriage.
In Judy Brady’s, “I Want A Wife” (1971) sarcasm or a humorous tone is expressed on the topic of what makes a wife. Brady repetitively states, “I want a wife” and begins to list what makes “a wife.” Brady defines a wife as someone who takes care of the children, cleans and cooks, gives up her ti...
Many sexist ideas have long been accepted and have become the societal norm. In “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady the author talks about how she wants a wife to do the typically expected things of a wife for her. Brady simply lists all the things a wife in today’s age is expected to do such as “pick up after the children, and a wife who will pick up after me” (504). It is the wife duty to give herself to her kids and husband regardless of how she is ever feeling. Throughout the literary piece the author shows how the needs of the wife are no longer considered when she becomes a wife. The entire essay is stated so matter-of-factly that it really shows how accepted these absurd ideologies really
All over the world, marriage is one of the main things that define a woman’s life. In fact, for women, marriage goes a long way to determine much in their lives including happiness, overall quality of life whether or not they are able to set and achieve their life goals. Some women go into marriages that allow them to follow the paths they have chosen and achieve their goals while for other women, marriage could mean the end of their life goals. For Janie, the lead character in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, who was married twice first to Joe sparks, and to Vergile Tea Cake, her two marriages to these men greatly affected her happiness, quality of life and pursuit of her life goals in various ways, based on the personality of each of the men. Although both men were very different from each other, they were also similar in some ways.
“: You hungry, Gabe? I was just fixing to cook Troy his breakfast,” (Wilson, 14). Rose understands her role in society as a woman. Rose also have another special talent as a woman, that many don’t have which is being powerful. Rose understands that some things she can’t change so she just maneuver herself to where she is comfortable so she won’t have to change her lifestyle. Many women today do not know how to be strong sp they just move on or stay in a place where they are stuck and unable to live their own life. “: I done tried to be everything a wife should be. Everything a wife could be. Been married eighteen years and I got to live to see the day you tell me you been seeing another woman and done fathered a child by her,”(Wilson, 33). The author wants us to understand the many things women at the time had to deal with whether it was racial or it was personal issues. Rose portrays the powerful women who won’t just stand for the
But in reality, a male narrator gives a certain sense of understanding to the male audience and society’s understand of the male and females roles and responsibilities in a marriage. Just as men were expected to cut the grass, take out the trash, pay the bills and maintain the household as a whole, women were expected to cook, clean, nurture the children, and be a loving and submissive wife to their husband. The only stipulation required for this exchange of power was to establish a mutual love. In the Victorian age love was all it took for a man to take or alter a woman’s livelihood and
The Bible which is seen as one of the most sacred text to man has contained in it not only the Ten Commandments, but wedding vows. In those vows couples promise to love, cherish, and honor each other until death does them apart. The irony of women accepting these vows in the nineteenth century is that women are viewed as property and often marry to secure a strong economic future for themselves and their family; love is never taken into consideration or questioned when a viable suitor presents himself to a women. Often times these women do not cherish their husband, and in the case of Edna Pontiellier while seeking freedom from inherited societal expectations and patriarchal control; even honor them. Women are expected to be caretakers of the home, which often time is where they remain confined. They are the quintessential mother and wife and are expected not to challenge that which...
The repetition of the phrase “I want a wife” in the essay reveals the desire of a man to have a wife because of the duties that they fulfill. This phrase highlights the importance of the duties such as cooking, having children, cleaning, and other domestic work and how a wife must complete all of them. The repetition of the word “I” is describing men as egocentric in which they are worried about themselves rather than their wife. The author sets a sarcastic tone in which she demands to have a wife, where in reality she is tired of being a wife herself. The incorporation of rhetorical questions such as, “Why do I want a wife?” (Brady) stated at the end of the first paragraph and “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife?” (Brady) helps create a sense of humor after describing and listing all the duties that women have to fulfill. The title “I Want a Wife” is an irony itself because it makes the reader feel that the author is a male since he is looking for a wife where in reality it is a wife whom is releasing her experience as a woman. Judy’s use of hyperbole makes it clear of unfairness that women continue to face. As Brady states, “I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt…” (Brady) establishes how a wife is responsible for all the events that occur in a man’s life such as friends coming home, but is not
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator and her husband John can be seen as strong representations of the effects society’s stereotypical gender roles as the dominant male and submissive female have within a marriage. Because John’s wife takes on the role as the submissive female, John essentially controlled all aspects of his wife’s life, resulting in the failure of the couple to properly communicate and understand each other. The story is intended to revolve around late 19th century America, however it still occurs today. Most marriages still follow the traditional gender stereotypes, potentially resulting in a majority of couples to uphold an unhealthy relationship or file for divorce. By comparing the “The yellow wallpaper” with the article “Eroticizing Inequality in the United States: The Consequences and Determinants of Traditional Gender Role Adherence in Intimate Relationships”, the similarities between the 19th century and 21st century marriage injustice can further be examined. If more couples were able to separate the power between the male and female, America would have less unhappy marriages and divorces.
In her essay, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller discusses the state of marriage in America during the 1800‘s. She is a victim of her own knowledge, and is literally considered ugly because of her wisdom. She feels that if certain stereotypes can be broken down, women can have the respect of men intellectually, physically, and emotionally. She explains why some of the inequalities exist in marriages around her. Fuller feels that once women are accepted as equals, men and women will be able achieve a true love not yet known to the people of the world.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” shows in society how a woman should be placed and what it means to be a woman. A women doesn’t question her partner, instead she is subservient to him. A woman’s duties include staying at home taking care of the children and cooking; while the man works and brings home the money. A feministic approach to Kincaid’s “Girl” points to the idea of the stereotypes that women can only be what they do in the home, they should only be pure and virtuous, and their main focus should be satisfying their husband.
Within these marriages, readers get a sense of how education plays an important role in a successful marriage, as this fulfills both of their dreams of personal identity. Although women in the nineteenth century were viewed to be superior wives and mothers, manage the household, and perform domestic tasks, it was important for women to become educated as “an education was supposed to enable these girls to become successful women in society” (Leigh 117). Women were not meant to be “trained” in some way to become good wives, but needed to be formally educated in order to be a successful wife and