... JUDY BRADY I Want a Wife (1971) Judy Brady’s essay became an instant classic when it appeared in 1971 in the premier issue of the feminist magazine Ms. As you read, analyze the definitions of “husband” and “wife” that Brady uses, and consider why this essay became so powerful in the 1970s. I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother. Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife? I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I am going to school I want a wife to take care of my children. I want a wife to keep track of the children’s doctor and dentist appointments. And to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean. I want a wife who will wash the children’s clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturant attendant to my children, who arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care...
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...Anonymous In the 1970 essay "I Want a Wife", by Judy Brady, The author effectively showed her message, Brady was a women, underappreciated and fed up with it The author wanted to express some resentment in what men expect of women a wife. There is a somewhat humorous tone to the way Brady sends that message in her writing, No person could fit the model of wife she illustrated, Brady shows that she and other wives are somewhat robbed of things, that men take for granted. Brady writes this essay in a first person point of view. She is writing as the man who wants a super wife. She makes a list of the responsibilities that a typical woman from the 1970's would have. According to Brady "If by chance I find more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, the author states “I want the liberty to replace my current wife with a new one." That is a clear of how Brady feels she and other women are treated unjustly. In the 1970's it was an era that marriages strongly reflected what Brady was trying to say. In that time I think that the essay was calling out, she is a wife and wants to show other wives that they aren't the only ones fed up with the system of marriage. The author states "I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife. And, not altogether incidentally I am a mother." I think she just wants people to know that she wants to reverse roles. I don't think in today’s society that this is as much an issue as when Brady wrote this essay. While true...
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...In this essay, I will review the idea of a wife and her role in our families. In the essay by Judy Brayers, exposition is used very well to explain the value of a wife. In the article, she is also very persuasive with her facts. I think that she is very clear in the numerous examples of why a wife is so valuable and not to be taken advantage of or dismissed without recognition. In “I want a wife, 1993 section 2”: Mrs. Brayers states that “it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife.” As a woman, she presents a very interesting point of view. Mrs. Brayers explains many of the roles that a wife takes on, including: “I want a wife who will wash the children's clothes and keep them mended”....
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...In Judy Brady’s personal essay “ I want A wife”, She explains why she would want a wife. She is humorously in her essay while teaching the unmarried and also the married women the role of and uncomplicated wife. At times, everyone wishes they had someone to rely on to do things for him/her. (ETHOS) PATHOS: She ends up answering the question, “Why would I want A wife?” and concluding “my god, who wouldn’t want a wife?” at the end. This shows she is comfortably stating what she had to say. ETHOS: The essay is very well put together by the way it’s illustrating how a dream wife should be. Which is Brady wanting a wife so she can be independent, can take care of her physical needs, and take care of her children. She lays out a list of what most...
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... Cespedes1 Professor Wilfert English 101 25 February 2013 “I Want a Wife” By: Judy Brady Judy Brady is a freelance writer, writing topics mainly relating to the roles of women in society. Judy wrote the piece I Want a Wife right after the second wave of the feminist movement in the United States. The purpose of the movement was to have the right to vote and have the same equal rights as male citizens. Judy’s essay appeared in MS. Magazine in 1971. She used feminist humor to persuade her readers to look objectively at a man’s expectations of what a wife is and should be. Brady’s intended audience was women and men of that time period. Not only does she write to married couples, but people in general. I believe she is trying to get out to the public that these stereotypes of roles for women are wrong and should end! Judy writes in her article about the many demands of being a wife. According to Judy, a wife is also a worker, homemaker, mother, provider, and a sexual partner. She stresses that the roles of women are unfair to the roles of men. And she illustrates this by telling you all the roles. I want a wife who will cook, clean, take care of the children, and my sexual needs all while providing for our family so I can selfishly pursue my dreams (442). She is stirring up emotions for the reader in hopes that this will persuade you to take action. She is clearly telling...
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...I Want a Husband Essay I am what most people would refer to as a husband. And, not surprisingly, I am also a father. A few weeks ago, one of my female friends divorced her husband of over 15 years. She had two children who, naturally, remain with their father. She is now looking for a new, younger, more attractive husband. One night as I was sitting at home massaging my wife’s back, it suddenly hit me that I would also like a husband. And why, exactly, do I want a husband?I would like someone who can work to meet all the financial needs of me and my children. He must have a stable, well-paying career because it is my duty to stay home and raise the children, even though they spend most of their time at school anyway. While I may have to bake cookies for the school fundraiser or make brownies for the soccer team, it is my husband’s responsibility to drive us to these events and cheer for the children because I couldn’t possibly risk losing my voice in such a harsh manner. I want a husband who will teach the children how to play sports, fix a car, or work any new technology in the house. I want a husband who can help the children with their homework because anything above arithmetic and beyond basic US history is too advanced for me. I want a husband who will get up in the middle of the night to ease the baby back to sleep while I get my beauty rest.I want a husband who is romantic. A husband who will never forget an anniversary and often surprise me with a beautiful bouquet...
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...In the essay “Why I Want A Wife” Judy Syfers explains why she desperately needs a wife. Also she explains why equality among men and women is important. Judy Syfers mentions wives roll in a relationship and how she thinks that every man really wants a maid not a wife to love. Young and with an education women have a need to be accepted. This thought might not be agreeable with a partner. Wives shouldn’t be treated like maids because they are the ones who keep the family together. And the most important part is when the two have a child. Both husband and wife must be there for the child. I believe that Judy showed that her massage was women are all used up and that she is fed up with it. That men take wives for granted. I think most of the essay she explains that she is a wife and wants to show other wives that they aren’t the only ones fed u with the system of marriage....
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...is a very hard job, but what about being a wife, or simultaneously being a mother and wife. First published in 1971, the work of Judy Brady discusses the status and work of wives then, and coincidentally, now in the 21st century. Not altogether incidentally, a wife and mother, Judy Brady subtly hints that wives are not appreciated for what they do for their families in her short essay “I Want A Wife”. Brady suggests, through the use of irony, that what is wanted and expected of wives is excessive and unorthodox. While using the words “I want a wife”, repeatedly, Brady satirizes the presumption that wives are desired for everything but being an actual wife, all while assuming an impassive tone in order...
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...In the prose, “Why I Want a Wife,” Judy Syfers blatantly uses anaphora, diction, and a rhetorical question to express the irony of men’s treatment of women and their utter dependence for them. Through this irony, Judy Syfers made the audience, mostly women, think about women’s rights and the treatment of women as being property or possession. Syfers began the bulk of her essay by relaying to us a list of things she would want in a wife if she could have one. The most obvious device used would be anaphora in the repetition of “I want a wife who…” at the beginning of almost every sentence. You could see this in the range of demands in the sentences “... a wife who will work and send me to school.” to “... a wife who will care for me and sympathize...
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...Judy Brady wrote the Essay ’’ I want a Wife’’. In her essay she writes about the harsh responsibilities of a wife in the 1970’s. She defines what is expected of a wife. She write out a list where she includes taking care of the children, taking care of her, wife must send her back to school to get an education, wife must support her financially while attending school, she must cook, clean, wash, iron, mend, keep up with doctors’ appointments for her and the kids, and also take care of her sexual and emotional needs too. The list continued on and on. In her experience woman were expected to do all the work and not complain. Woman weren’t appreciated at all. Brady communicated her piece by broadcasting it on a woman’s magazine, hoping to get a...
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...Introduction I propose to conduct a survey on the topic “Is female independence the main reason behind the increasing number of divorce rate?” This survey will be in context of Bangladesh. The rate of divorce is rising due to increased female independence. High rate of divorce is a common problem in western countries but in Bangladesh it is also following the trend. It is suggested that overall improvement in women’s position in terms of financial and social status has changed the scenario. Women’s position is getting stronger both financially and emotionally. Now they are more conscious about their rights, education and job facilities are giving more independence these days. Women's “work outside the home" has brought about a revolutionary change in the overall social outlook. They now claim equal rights as men, but as a consequence it is affecting marriage relationships. This overall change in women’s roles is leading to an increase in divorce rate due to inequality in acceptance of women’s freedom. There is a strong correlation between divorce rates and married women's involvement in the work force. Married women's increased participation in the work force may have many consequences. Some of the consequences that result from married women working are that there is less time spent at home, less time of interaction with family, and changing goals for the future. These consequences may negatively affect the marital relationship and contribute to the increasing divorce rates...
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...Compare and Contrast: Sister Flowers versus I Want a Wife Lisa Jackson ENG 121: English Composition I Instructor: Alicia Giffin December 9, 2013 When given the task of comparing two different essays, I read through the list before deciding on Sister Flowers by Maya Angelou and I Want a Wife by Judy Brady. I found both essays to be well-written and each touched me on an emotional level. However, I found the essay Sister Flowers to be the better essay because of the descriptive nature and that it has a deeper meaning by showing how the kindness of one person can make one feel liked and respected, while the essay I Want a Wife was written more for entertainment by showing how little men do and how much women take care of. The essay Sister Flowers is about a little girl named Marguerite who, in the beginning of the essay, compared herself to “an old biscuit, dirty and inedible” (Angelou, M.) until she met Mrs. Bertha Flowers. Marguerite looked up to Mrs. Flowers whom she referred to as graceful, and one of the few gentlewomen she had known. Marguerite states “She was our side’s answer to the richest white woman in town” (Angelou, M.). Marguerite’s reverence of Mrs. Flowers made her ashamed of how uneducated her grandmother appeared. One day Mrs. Flowers invited Marguerite into her house so she could have a talk with her. The fact that she cared enough to invite Marguerite into her house, make cookies for her, and then give her a book to read made Marguerite feel liked and respected...
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...English Composition I Professor Beth Riley October 23, 2013 Homelessness is More Appealing Many of us will never be homeless, and not everyone understands the benefit of having a wife, but after reading the essays’, Homeless (Quindlen, A. n.d.) and I Want a Wife (Brady, J. 1971), one can gain a better understanding of both. I am a wife. Therefore, I can certainly connect with the narrator’s story of I Want a Wife. This is a narrative essay, in which the narrator reflects on why she too would like to have a wife after a visit with a recently divorced male friend, who is looking for a new wife. The narrator gives a list of duties and activities she will and will not do if she had a wife, and she can visualize the benefits a wife could afford her with less responsibilities and more time for school or friends. My other essay of choice is quite different in theme, but it is still relatable. Anne Quindlen’s essay, Homeless (n.d.) is a short descriptive essay with the narrator retelling of an account when she met a woman, who she believes is homeless, at the bus terminal. It is during the encounter that the narrator reflects on homeless people in general, the homeless individual and about herself. Both of these essays’ are well written, however, I feel that Homeless (Quindlen, A. n.d.), is a more appealing essay than I Want a Wife (Brady, J. 1971), as it allows the reader to become more engaged in the descriptions and reflect on the details of the story. Whenever I first start reading...
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...Hemingway’s story. The character the “American Wife” shows similar elements of confinement and restraint as to the cat in the story. The constant obsession for the cat in the story from the wife shows that she thinks of herself as the cat and wants to be freed from this rain. Two Americans are stuck in a hotel where their room is facing the sea, a public garden and a war monument. A rainy day it seems to be there somewhere in Italy and the American wife is looking out the window and she spots a cat under the table that is trying to keep dry from the rain. The American wife begins to express a desire for many things in the story. She tells her husband if she cannot have fun on this trip that she should get anything she wants. She starts to request material goods and the story shows that she requests these things due to the lack of intangible goods such as love and affection. The American wife suddenly becomes obsessed with the idea of saving this random street cat. You can metaphorically say the cat is her and she is trying to save the cat from the rain and in the Americans wife case the rain is the lack of love and affection. But, George (her husband) ignores her desires and treats her as if she was a little girl of no importance what so ever. One can clearly see that the relationship is unhealthy. The wife never speaks out about the restraint George puts on her, but rather feels it. “I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her”. This quote shows the feeling...
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...her husband. In “The Death of a Hired Man,” a married couple express their different feelings toward a man who used to work for them and that had come home to die. In these poems, the husband and wife respond to death in different ways. As a result, they disagree with each other have difficulty understanding the feelings of their partner. Frost uses dialogue in “Home Burial” and “The Death of a Hired Man” to show us the way that death affects the world and the people in it. In the beginning of “Home Burial”, we see Amy coming down the stairs of her home. On her way down the stairwell she “look[s] back over her shoulder in some fear”(Frost 3) and turns away. Her husband sees her asks her what she is looking at, “What is it you see / From up there always—for I want to know” (Frost 6-7). It is clear that the wife is petrified of her husband as she is unable to look at him. She is also uncomfortable in his presence as “her face change[s] from terrified to dull” (Frost 9). The husband is “Mounting until she cowered under him” (Frost 11). In this line, we realize that the husband is controlling in the way that he stands over her. He looks strong and powerful while the wife looks weak and submissive. The wife tells him that even if he looks, he...
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