Why I Want a Wife
Feminist, Judy Brady explains in her speech, Why I Want a Wife (1972),why she would like to have a wife. She supports her claim by first stating what she wants in a wife, then what that wife would do for her, finally she tells of how the wife would take on these tasks. Brady's purpose is to get the point across that she wants a wife to do the things that wives do and that she is a woman who knows what she wants. She is a very informed woman and knows how she wants a wife to act. She establishes a very demanding sounding tone for the readers of this article.
Brady uses a lot of ethos in this article. She, as an ex-housewife, knows what wives do for their husbands, and how they treat them. With Brady’s past of being a housewife, she has gained all the knowledge that she needs to know what she wants in a wife. One may think that her statement “ I want a wife” means that she literally wants a woman to marry, but it just means that she wants someone to do all the things for her that a wife does. She wants someone to do all kinds of things for her, she wants a wife who will clean all her cloths, make her dinner, basically be her slave. In her mind, she can’t see why she should not be allowed one, as feminist she believes that all women need the same opportunities a man has.
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Brady goes on to tell of how her wife would do the things a wife should do, and how she needs to react to them. She wants a wife to do all the things at home so Brady can go back to school, get the kids to bed, make dinner and attend to every need and urge that Brady would have, and attend to her sexual needs and only have sex when she feels up to it. “ I want a wife who assumes the complete responsibility for birth control, because I do not want more children. I want a wife who will remain sexually faithful to me so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies” is probably the main quote from this article that shows truly what Brady wants in a wife. In the ways that she describes the tasks, and the way her wife would take them on, she wants a submissive wife. When one thinks of submissive, they think just sexual (thanks E.L James) but that's not just what it means. A submissive wife is a wife who listens and does everything she is told when it comes to anything, whether it be sexual or servant based. A 1950’s housewife is what she wants. Brady takes on a very demanding tone in this article, by that I mean she talks in a way that makes it seem as if all the things her wife would be doing, she would tell her to do. Like making all of her friends dinner and putting the kids to bed so that they do not disturb her and her friends while they are playing cards and smoking. Brady wants a wife who is very attentive to her needs, she basically wants a wife who co-works are her mother as well. Someone who will do anything and everything that she needs with no complaint and with gratitude. You can also tell by the tone in this article that her intentions are very clear, I don’t know how many times the words “ I want a wife who” appeared in this article. Brady clearly wants a wife who is okay with all the obstacles that is thrown at her. We know that in this article Brady does state that she wants a wife, but that is not exactly what she means.
She wants a person to do all the things for her that she has done as a wife, she wants to get what she gave to her husband. Brady once was the wife that she is writing about wanting to have. She once attended to every need of her husband and fulfilled every single one of his wishes and commands. From the way that this article was written one could infer that she was tired of doing these thing and needed/wanted these things done for her. She is tired of doing all of this for another person and not getting anything in return. She is in all meanings of the word, a
feminist.
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
... men. If women are unhappy in a marriage they should move on toward what pleases them. She also points out that women in the twentieth century hold their life in their hands and that there is not a single person out there that has full control of it. They should peruse to become equals of men because they are not the imprudent weaklings that should be obligated to fulfill a roll of subservience to men.
In agreement with the feminist movement, she claims that the marriage our grandparents shared, has no room in the lives of a modern woman. She refers several times to the negative ideas of marriage being a prison and woman having to give up their dreams for a family life. "Feminism has not failed me. It has presented me with compromises and disappointments and I have made some choices that I regret" (Reimer). The contrast between love and independence is overpowering, which she handles with a wide range of emotion. Crittenden acknowledges the advantages and dis advantages of both remaining independent and getting married. Crittenden acknowledges the advantages and disadvantages of both remaining independent and getting married, on an emotional
Judy Brady’s essay “I Want a Wife” uses a sarcastic tone in order to illuminate the amount of much pressure that is put on wives, not just by their husbands, but by society as well. Brady’s tone voices to the audience that changes need to be made to the role of women.
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.
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
... to the domesticated woman urging her to care for her family providing food for the body but to also care for herself in providing food for her mind: A house is no home unless it contain food and fire for the mind as well as for the body” (602). Murray, also makes suggestion for reform, encouraging women not to abandon their familial roles, but, rather tend to their family’s domestic needs dynamically saying “while we are pursuing the needle, or the superintendency of the family, I repeat, that our minds are at full liberty for reflection; that imagination may exert itself in full vigor” (405). In saying this she encourages women not to be passive but to be active and dynamic in their supposed roles as women, to defy the notion of the archetypal woman who tends to her family and has nothing that pertains to her solely and enrich the mind and subsequently herself.
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...
...ng it is not something she wants to be. This stereotypic role will probably continue to occur unless the stereotype of what a wife should be takes on yet another change. Hopefully one day an educated, vivacious, well-spoken, working, woman will become the tradition of what a wife epitomizes.
Jochild, Maggie. Feminism Unadulterated: Why I Want Wife. 5 April 2008. 27 February 2014. .
She is stating that she knows she is far from perfect, but she wants to be remembered for her accomplishments and good. She wants her husband to move on. but to keep her children happy and taken care of, if a tragedy is to come because of one of her
In her classic essay first published in feminist magazine Ms., “I Want a Wife” Judy Brady declares the role of women in the 1970’s as viewed from a man’s point of view. This essay by Judy Brady is written from a feminist point of view portraying how men perceive women in their minds and how life is difficult as a wife:
In the reading’s of “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady, (Essay #6) the author gives details on the reasons she would love to have a wife by her side. She gives explicit encounters on the labor detail job of a woman, from cooking, to cleaning, to ironing, to sexual interactions. Now, I do believe that as a wife, there are specifics that are wanted in a marriage, but nothing stated as a demand.
Freelance writer, Judy Brady, in her narrative essay, “Why I Want A Wife,” was published in Ms. Magazine in 1972 recounts a male friendーrecently divorced from the mother of his sonーseeking a new wife. Brady’s purpose is to demonstrate the idea that people who classify under this title have difficult expectations required of them. She adopts a sarcastic, yet humorous, tone in order to appeal to similar feelings and experiences in her adult female readers. Brady emphasizes her purpose by using the rhetorical device of anaphora, repeating the phrase “I want a wife,” followed by strenuous tasks expected of her husband and child.
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