Literary Analysis Of Judy Brady's I Want A Wife

As a woman in the 1970s, it’d be difficult to avoid the peaking second-wave of feminism sweeping the nation. The year Judy Brady published her now famous feminist essay ‘I Want a Wife’ women were beginning to acquire more of a voice than ever before. The voice Brady uses is thick with sarcastic humor and intentional hyperbole to blatantly call out discrimination between the sexes. However, Judy Brady conveniently and methodically avoids the words ‘equality’ and ‘feminism’ throughout the essay. She knows that by naming her cause, she limits her audience. Brady understands that the only way to make these ideas accessible, to both men and women, is to approach them with logic, emotion, and most importantly humor.

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The bitterness of Brady is palpable in her writing, especially with lines like “I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife 's duties.” This means to incite anger in the reader; it is so blatantly disrespectful to the point the reader may wish to object. It implies a frustrated woman is a lesser woman, when the entire essay intentionally points out these frustrations. Another comment that creates tension for the reader is when she exclaims, “If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life […]” This makes it seem as though a woman is disposable and easily replaceable if she does not conform to these ideas. Finally, when Brady ends her writing with the rhetorical question, “My God, who wouldn 't want a wife?” it inspires two different responses. First, it challenges the male audience by making the reader feel inferior if they disagree with the author; Secondly, it inspires empowerment amongst the female audience by allowing them to feel proud of everything they’re able to accomplish without due