A Rhetorical Analysis Of I Want A Wife By Judy Brady

591 Words2 Pages

The 1970’s were a time of protest and turmoil for equality, especially for women’s rights and feminism. Steps were being made though, women were hosting sit-ins and marches that were gaining ground. In 1971, Reed v Reed declared sexual discrimination as a violation of the 14th amendment, and Judy Brady wrote “I Want a Wife”. Judy Brady was able to exemplify and criticize women’s treatment and lack of value by writing with repetition, sarcasm, and reversal.
While opening her essay, Brady explains her situation as she was ironing one evening. She was reminiscing about a friend of hers who was fresh out of a divorce, who lost his child to his now ex-wife, and was looking for his next wife. Something suddenly occurred to her as a bizarre thought, she wants her own wife! She reverses the societal norm of a man and a woman, and uses that to catch her audience’s attention. Brady published her essay to a premier issue of …show more content…

She conjures up the next six paragraphs all revolving around “I want”. By choosing to write her essay like this, it does a multitude of things. It shows her determination and steadfastness for proving her point. With every repetition of “I want” and “I want”, it proves to the reader again and again how much willpower she possesses. The repetition also creates sort of a snotty tone, making her sound like she is drawing her line in the sand and standing her ground. Above all, the recurrence of “I want” shows the magnitude of things women do for men that go unnoticed and underappreciated. She lists off an arsenal of things that go unnoticed, while even keeping them to broad topics like child support, physical needs, etc. This repetition inflates her idea that wives are not getting the proper recognition for all the tedious work they perform on a daily basis, while simultaneously making her audience notice some help they have considered or not considered

Show More
Related

  • How Does The Direct Characterization Of Mr Waythorn

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ng. She examines the issue of divorce and remarrying, using relationships as a tool for social climbing, she also examines the insecurities that arise when a man discovers that the definition he placed on the woman in his life isn’t as realistic as he would like to think. She subtly addresses the issue of man’s desire to own and define women they are in a relationship with, while trying to control any of her social interactions that could potentially threaten his sense of ownership.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Amy Cunningham's Why Women Smile

    111 Words  | 1 Pages

    Amy Cunningham, an editor and author from New York, wrote an article “Why Women Smile” to emphasize on how women are no longer smiling because it is a natural thing, but rather an everyday habit. Coupled with Cunningham’s supported reasons by using logos and ethos, she also uniquely brings in her personal experience by having ethos, making her argument more relatable. A long side with that, societies’ past and present impact on today’s world about women was also included as Cunningham put her own take into proving her point. Although this may be true, there were some fallacies found in her argument leading it to lack of fully portraying the audience.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Friends With Benefits By Kate Dailey

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henry Adams, a famous historian, once said “Friends are born, not made.” Is this true? One curious woman, author Kate Dailey, wrote “Friends with Benefits: Do Facebook Friends Provide the Same Support as Those in Real Life?” published in 2009 in the Newsweek, and she argues that Facebook is able to provide and create “friends”. Dailey argues that while Facebook serves as a great alternative for real world’s social life, Facebook is not a replacement to the same support as those in actuality. Dailey starts building her credibility by incorporating personal stories and using reliable sources, quoting convincing facts and statistics, and successfully using emotional appeals; however, towards the end of the article, her attempt to summarize the other side of the debate ultimately undermines her platform.

    Read More

  • Love and Marriage in Gallant's The Other Paris

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the end, readers are unsure whether to laugh or cry at the union of Carol and Howard, two people most undoubtedly not in love. Detailed character developments of the confused young adults combined with the brisk, businesslike tone used to describe this disastrous marriage effectively highlight the gap between marrying for love and marrying for ?reason.? As a piece written in the 1950s, when women still belonged to their husbands? households and marriages remained arranged for class and money?s sake, Gallant?s short story excerpt successfully utilizes fictional characters to point out a bigger picture: no human being ought to repress his or her own desires for love in exchange for just an adequate home and a tolerable spouse. May everyone find their own wild passions instead of merely settling for the security and banality of that ?Other Paris.?

    Read More

  • The Myth Of Co-Parenting By Hope Edelman Summary

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edelman 's purpose in writing this essay is to show two sides: she wants to show the reader how her husband has abandoned her, but also cares to inform the perfect ideal of marriage that everyone grows up with is not completely achievable. Furthermore, Edelman wants the reader to feel sympathy for her situation and understand why it has taken such a toll on her life. She uses anecdotal evidence from her own life and how she handles the situations to get this point across. This choice impacts the article by creating a one sided slant because she never interviews her husband to find out how he is feeling about the situation. Edelman blames her husband for working more hours and not being around to help with the parenting, like they were supposed to be doing together. She explains how before her husband began working crazy hours, she too, was a working mother, but now the more and more hours he works, the more she needs to be present at home. Edelman says, “It began to make me spitting mad, the way the daily duties of parenting and home ownership started to rest entirely on me.” (53). She feels betrayed by her husband

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis: A Day Without Feminism

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    During the 1970’s, women were extremely mistreated and did not have many rights. There were very limited opportunities and women were restricted for doing certain things that men could. Throughout the United States women were not tried as equals compared to men. At the time, ladies could barely do anything if they did not have a husband, lesbian women did not have the freedom to express their sexual preference, abortions were illegal, females could only attend certain college and occupy certain jobs, and this list of inequalities can go on for days. According to the article some of these problems still exist today which is a major issue.

    Read More

  • The Women’s Rights Movement

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Wife's Story Rhetorical Analysis

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is safe to say that the box next to the “boring, monotone, never-ending lecture” has been checked off more than once. Without the use of rhetorical strategies, the world would be left with nothing but boring, uniform literature. This would leave readers feeling the same way one does after a bad lecture. Rhetorical devices not only open one’s imagination but also allows a reader to dig deep into a piece and come out with a better understanding of the author’s intentions. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Wife’s Story” is about a family that is going through a tough spot. However, though diction, imagery, pathos, and foreshadowing Guin reveals a deep truth about this family that the reader does not see coming.

    Read More

  • Cultural Expectations for Women within America

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1950’s, a woman’s life path was pretty clear cut, graduate from high school and find a good man while your ultimate goal is to start a family and maintain an orderly house. This is shown when Kingston says to the little girl “Some one has to marry you before you can become a housewife.” She says this as if becoming a housewife is a top priority for a woman. However presently, most women in America hold very respectable jobs and the role as housewife is slowly disappearing from American culture. Another example of modern day women showing strength is portrayed when the narrator’s mother goes on a cultural rampage and forces the narrator to go to the drug store and demand a piece of candy simply because the druggist missed the address of the house. This scene is shown in pages three, four, and five. By doing so the narrator comes off as poor and illogical.

    Read More

  • Women Of The Upper Class Analysis

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the book, many of the wives note how they wish that they were able to pursue their goals and dreams, but were unable to due to the fact that they had responsibilities as a wife. I think that by putting themselves in a position where they could be viewed as undeserving upper class members who did not work, it not created a dependency to their husbands financially, it portrayed them as women incapable of supporting themselves or their desires in life. “Upper-class women, like other women, experience dissatisfaction with their role as wives–with its expected mode of accommodation, unequal voice in family decisions, and sole responsibility for home and family”

    Read More

  • Shirley Chiisholm's Patriarchy: Race, Revolution And Women

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.

    Read More

  • My Fight For Birth Control By Eleanor Cooney

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society looks down on women when they don’t uphold to what they normally do. Furthermore, she talks about how men are not seen equally and there only social role is to work and come home and do nothing. In my opinion I realize that these social roles have changed for the better. Now both men and women are helping out with household work which I think would be less stress and work on women.

    Read More

  • I Want A Wife

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another strategy Brady uses throughout this article is humor. TShe shows through ridicule and exaggeration, Brady shows how lopsided relationships are when it comes to women in how they are treated by men. The height of her frustration can especially be seen in her words about replacing an old wife with a new one. In her words about liberty: “I want the liberty to replace my present wife another one. Naturally I expect a fresh, new life: my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free” (Brady 230). Brady’s biting words reveal s the hypocrisy and double standards that men get away with and women would be sneered at for even attempting. Brady’s humor both disarms men’s foolish arguments while bolstering women’s liberation from the tyranny of men jumping from one marriage to

    Read More

  • Analysis Of I Want A Wife

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 lucid 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

    Read More

  • Gender Identity Essay

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Society’s gender infrastructure has changed since the 1920’s and the nineteen amendment that allowed women the right to vote. Or so we thought, many of the gender expectations that were engraved into our early society still remain intact today. Women for many people still mean an immaterial, negligible, and frivolous part of our society. However, whatever the meaning of the word women one has, the same picture is always painted; that of a housewife, mother, and daughter. Women are expected to fallow the structural identity of living under her husband 's submissions. Threatening the social norm of what is accepted to be a woman in society can put in jeopardy the personal reputation of a woman, such treating her as a whore. But, what happens

    Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of I Want A Wife By Judy Brady

Open Document