Rhetorical Analysis Of Why Judy Brady I Want A Wife

King & Brady

Judy Brady was born in 1937, and became a freelance writer after going to the university of Iowa and getting her B.F.A in 1962. She wrote for a magazine called the Ms. and was an active feminist.Brady’s article Why I want a wife written in the 1971 issue of Ms. magazine, detailed how she would too want a wife to take care of her and her children, while she was off at work or getting a college education. In the article she uses satire to mock the current way women are viewed by many male peers. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, writes a letter from a cell in Birmingham Alabama to eight fellow Bishop Clergymen,C.C.J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L.Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B. Harmon, Reverend George

M. Murray, Reverend Edward V. Ramage, and Reverend Earl Stallings. Both these writers communicate their feelings about equal rights well and are essential in the equal rights movements.
Brady’s use of pathos shows the audience just how ridiculous the demands of a wife really are. Pathos is used in the entire article and brings new light to the subject discussed. The article in its entireness just uses pathos to show just how ridiculous the demands of a wife were before and during the 70’s. Brady says “ I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and change of scene” (4). All of that sounds mocking toward the men of that time who seem not to be able to take care of themselves, requiring someone to mother them rather be on equal footing with them. That’s why Brady took a step back from logos writing or the ethos version and went with pathos. Styling the article to focus more on emotion, connects the reader with the passion Brady has for her cause; the anger along with the urge to take a stand and change how future woman will be treated. Although while writing Brady realised she couldn’t have such an angry undertone throughout her article; so she went back to the style aspect to it, tweaking it even more; this time to a satirical style her readers could read and laugh about while realizing what they had read was true in every sense of the word. Why I want a Wife brought more attention to women's rights than other articles before it, and it brought the attention in a comedic way so the men even saw how ridiculous the ideas of the time were for the women. Women started showing the article to their female friends and in turn those friends showed more women who kept the process up. That’s why Brady’s choice of writing her article in a satirical manner was and is a very important decision in her fight for women’s rights.
During that time the evidence of unequal footing was plain to see for all, yet most audiences saw the topic as a beaten horse and had no interest in hearing about, or reading about it in another article. A style that hadn’t been used in this topic before, creating a way to get the attention of her female audience. Writing lines stating that the wife must find a way to miss work and still keep the job put fire under women who had been apathetic towards a way of life many were used to. Women who read the article realized they had experienced the same treatment in their homes, along with remembering that their mother had as well been through the same thing while they themselves had been children Even if the treatment hadn’t been the exact same way as Brady described it the women now could see for themselves what was going on in their own homes; show their husbands the same article with the satirical tone and have the husband too realize this is what their home possibly looked like to an outsider's eyes. Having the article sound sarcastic and light hearted kept the husbands from getting defensive, towards their wives who showed them it.
These are points on Brady and her article “Why I want a wife”, although she wasn’t the only author alive at time writing about equal rights for a group of people. Dr. King also wrote on this topic; in his letter to his fellow clergymen, King talks at length about how the rights of his people and the clergymen’s people are not being dealt with correctly in the southern states; his letter spans six pages front and back detailing how, the state Alabama specifically Birmingham was Alabama was in dire need of help for it’s African American population along for it’s other minority groups. King was majorly involved in the equal rights movement for the minority population stating “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (13). During 1963 in Birmingham had dogs treated better than the human minority groups that lived in the city, the groups were seen lower than dogs at that point in time; King had been to the city multiple times meeting with city leaders to organize a peaceful march, but had been told to wait.
That is where the waiting for more than 340 years quote comes from, King tells the clergymen this in his letter because, he knows when a black hears the word ‘wait’ it is synonymous with the word ‘never’. The men he writes this letter to are, four Bishops, three Reverends, and one rabbi, who made a published statement on King’s actions in Birmingham stating them “unwise and untimely”(1). To which King replies to them that he feels that they are men of goodwill and their criticisms are set forth with sincerity. Throughout the letter King gives biblical references that his recipients would recognize, stating “there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire”(21). The biblical reminder of the civil disobedience forces his readers to remember how much of the bible is civil disobedience, along with the the pain those from the bible were willing to go through for their faith.
Remaining logical, along with pointing out facts to his audience is how most of his letter is written until the middle of paragraph thirteen, were you seen King show just a bit of emotion while he writes “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people;when you have to concoct answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’ ”(13).

That is the only point in his letter where emotion is shown, which is important to understand why. Knowing that the ones against him and the cause he fights for, would take an emotional letter and use it against him, calling him uncredible from the emotions he displays. By keeping a logical tone throughout, he can add in a small amount of emotion to remind those who read the letter that he is human. Although the emotion plays another role here besides serving as a reminder that he’s human; King wants the clergymen he writes to, to know his anger about having to find a way to explain to his young son and daughter about racism. That he shouldn’t even have to find a way to explain that to them; the clergymen themselves have never had to explain to their children why they can’t go to Funtown or why white people are mean to colored people that they shouldn’t tell the affected minority’s to wait for a more well timed

opportunity.
King and Brady, are still important especially for the written works they put out, but the written works about equal rights are more important especially for the groups that fight for those rights in the present. It gives a ray of hope, to those who struggle, that one day their rights will to be given to them without second thought. It also continues to remind us that it was not that long ago that not everyone had equal rights. Brady went with satire to reminder, her readers of the injustice they faced every day, this kept her article special; helping call attention. While Brady needed satire to boost her words to the reading world King needed to keep his logic. Remaining calm, and steady in his letter showed he could not be shaken away easily and that he could see his goal clearly on the horizon.