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I Want A Wife By Judy Brady

Decent Essays

From the early 1960s through the late 1970s, the feminist movement in the United States had sought to transform the way society regarded women. At the height of the feminist movement in 1972, Judy Brady’s essay “I Want a Wife” was published in the premiere issue of the feminist Ms. magazine. Written in a satirical style, Brady intends to convince her audience to take the position of a man and the expectations he places on a wife. She effectively does this by disclosing to the audience her experience as a wife, as well as her vast background knowledge on the topic. Moreover, Brady appeals to the emotions of her audience by exaggerating the responsibilities a man expects of his wife and taking the perspective of a husband. Finally, the author uses repetition of key phrases to emphasize her idea of how men take advantage of their wives. Thus, Brady’s clever use of her own personal experience, emotions, and repetition of key phrases makes her essay strong and convincing to her audience.
Prior to describing what a man will expect from a wife, Judy Brady establishes her credibility within the first couple sentences of her essay. Brady states “I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother” (1). This quote is significant since Brady makes it clear in the beginning of her article that she has firsthand experience of being a wife and a mother. Her experience allows her to have a vast amount of knowledge on the

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