Rhetorical Analysis Of Why I Want A Wife

In her article, Judy Brady, an author whose piece was published in the Ms. Magazine in 1972 and 1990, Why I Want A Wife, she argues that women do not receive any accolades for their functions as a wife. She supports her claim with the use anaphora by repeatedly saying “I want a wife”, and by listing all the jobs a wife fulfils. Brady’s purpose is to describe wifely duties in order to inform other women who read the Ms. Magazine that they are taken for granted. She creates a sarcastic and irritated tone to show the wives who read her article that men expect them to cook, clean, and take care of the children no matter their wants or needs. Brady’s use of anaphora is very helpful when it comes to supporting her argument that women do not receive enough credit for all the things they do in the marriage. She repeats the phrase “I want a wife…” twenty-nine times throughout the entire article. Repeating this certain phrase

With the beginning of the sentences stating “I want a wife”, the article has a little bit of a selfish tone that reveals husbands make their wives complete all the responsibilities around the house because they are not interested. Husbands back in the 1970’s and 1990’s expected their wives to cook, clean, and tend to the children. Brady takes these three tasks that sound fairly simple and exaggerates them to show the real struggles wives have to endure. She goes in depth with the chores, for example she includes, “...arrange to lose time at work and not lose her job…”, “... type my paper…”, “...takes care of the needs of my guests…”, and even after she has a hard long day she still has to be “... sensitive to my sexual needs…” Brady implies that a wife’s job never ends, from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep, she has to tend to and please