I Want A Wife, By Judy Brady

After World War II, the nation was blooming. Everything was growing, people were going to college, and wealth grew. The idea of the perfect American life was developed, this included a husband that worked and a wife that stayed home and took care of the house and children. To look at how women are affected by this perfect life I am analyzing “Governor Adlai Stevenson Tells College Women about Their Place in Life, 1955” and “Good Housekeeping: Every Executive Needs a Perfect Wife, 1956”.

In an essay by Judy Brady titled “I Want a Wife”, Brady discusses the typical gender dynamics of her time period (the 1970s) and challenges them. She essentially says that women are treated like they are inferior to men and so she says that she wishes or wants someone to fulfill her duties for her just like she does for her husband. This essay shows the struggle to gain equality in this time period and also represents the thoughts that a woman in this time period might have. Not only is the meaning behind this essay significant, but the way in which Brady presents it is also significant and it amplifies and strengthens the argument. This is proven by textual evidence found in the essay itself.

Male dominance. The essay, "I Want a Wife" was written during the second wave of the feminist movement in the United States. It was a period when the society was dominated by men. In “I Want a Wife” Brady writes about the demand that a wife is made to meet while the husband does nothing. She claims that the duties of a wife are unfair to the duties of husband, leading to inequality between the roles of wife and husband. Brady feels bushed by differences in the household chore and the fact that the roles performed by wife go unobserved. For instance, Brady says, "I want a wife who will have the house clean, keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it.” (Glenn 13). The statement indicates how women were treated in the early 1960s. Women were supposed to get married and serve their husbands. Their work was to perform household

    Since all these changes happened back then it let women of the 21st century have options to do what they want. Now we attend school longer, we get the same education as

In “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady, the author argues that the roles of a wife are unfair and more demanding than a husband's, thereby they are treated as lesser than a man. Brady supports her claim by first, introducing herself as a wife, showing her empirical knowledge; secondly, cataloging the unreasonable expectations of a wife; finally ending the essay with an emotional and thought-provoking statement, “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife?” Brady’s purpose is to expose the inequality between the roles of a husband and of a wife in order to show that women do not belong to men and to persuade women to take action and stand up for themselves. Based on when this essay was written and since it is about the impossible expectations of a wife, Brady was writing to feminists in the 1960s in order to rally them to create a change in the way people thought.

Women in the mid-1800s had nearly any rights they could not vote or hold office. If women were to get married their husband got all of the property he owned all her wages if she worked the husband could hit his wife long as it did not injure her. Women held many rallies and other events to try and get equal right. The Women's Rights Movement allowed women a chance to go to college and other schooling opportunities. Finally women got the same jobs as men they got paid the same they owned all of their property and wages.

Throughout the years, women have been seen as someone to have children, someone to cook, someone to clean, and someone who does not deserve rights. In the essay "I Want A Wife," Judy Brady points out the different roles of a "wife" according to society at that time. I believe that Brady is sarcastically describing the ideal wife every man dreams of. Even though, women have been fighting for their rights for a long time now, even today women are still not equal to men in many ways. In today's society women are more respected and are acceptable for many jobs as men are, but still they are not treated equally all the times. Brady is a wife herself, and in her essay she wishes she had a wife that she described. Brady brings out all the

We have progressed a lot as a society. No longer are women stuck at home cooking and taking care of children. Now, more than ever, women have the same opportunities to achieve just as much men. There are no jobs that men do that women can’t. Women can vote, play

When Brady classifies herself as “a wife and mother” she is automatically labeled with the responsibilities that were enforced by societal beliefs of that era (Brady 229). Women were considered inferior to men and struggled to gain equality. Husband's required too much of their wives as to their physical needs; “I want a wife to keep my house clean.” Their social needs, “When I meet people at school that I like and want to entertain, 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 when I talk about things that interest me and my friends.” In addition, their sexual needs, “I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that I am satisfied.” (Brady 229-230). Women did all these things everyday to please their husbands, although they received no fringe benefit in return. The cultural values that were viewed at this time emphasized the discrimination and equality that Brady desperately wants her audience to

The changes that women have gone through in the 1900’s to the present day are: were voting in the U.S., deciding what they what job to have, and their own property. It was a big change from men in the 1900’s to the men nowadays. Of course, during that time,

In Judy Brady’s “I Want a Wife” she talks about the tasks of a desired wife. There are certain things and duties required for a housewife to do. Brady describes all the helpful things done for a husband and children without even realizing all the responsibility and what she is doing. No one ever acknowledges that things done by a wife can be done by someone who was not a wife, but instead a man. Judy realizes she supports her husband so he can go back to school. She keeps the house clean. She has to be sensitive to the needs of a man in general.

Do you want a wife? Judy Brady has us all thinking the same thing after reading her short essay, “Why I Want a Wife.” From everyday responsibilities to things a wife does for her husband, Brady clearly tells us about her duties of being a wife and mother. Through the use of pathos, Judy Brady explains why everyone would want a wife in in her short essay “Why I Want a Wife.”

“Why I Want A Wife” by Judy Brady is a personal inquiry about why she would want a wife of her own. Written in the 1970’s Brady published the piece in the iconic Ms magazine, a well known feminist magazine. When Brady sat down to write this piece she wanted to show the men that had been oppressing women, and acting as if men were far superior, what it is like for someone like Brady, who is a wife and has children, how she feels about her day-to-day ‘duties’. Brady accomplishes showing the men that they are being unfair by excessively using anaphora throughout the piece, using segregating style, and using climax to heighten her point.

Judy Brady’s article, “I Want A Wife”, first appeared in the feminist magazine Ms., in its preview issue in 1972. Judy Brady is known to be a powerful feminist and political activist. She primarily writes about woman rights and her feminists views. Her essays and articles have appeared in Greenpeace magazine and in The Women's Review of Books. The main point of Brady’s article, “I Want A Wife”, is that it highlights the role of wives in a relationship, describes the amount of work they do, and how valuable they are to a family.

Apart from work and education, today’s women also have more freedom: in the way they dress, in deciding what to do in their lives without necessarily being forced to do what their fathers or husbands order them, and even more freedom in social relations (more friends, possibility to go out at night, etc.).