I Want A Wife Argument Analysis

Although Judy Brady’s I Want a Wife and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Declaration of Sentiments both revolve around the mistreatment and desire of equality for women, The Declaration of Sentiments emphasizes political and social justice while I Want a Wife focuses more on domestic life. In I Want a Wife, Judy Brady explains much of what is expected of women through rhetoric by stating that she too would like a wife. She then goes on to discuss the various, so-called, wifely duties that men seem to expect from their spouse. Brady states that “[she] wants a wife who will work and send [her] to school” (Patterns,502) and that while she is attending school she expects the wife to care for the children. To dress them, feed them, arrange playdates

While Stanton and Brady do disagree with how women are viewed and treated, Stanton’s priority was fairness in politics and education, not so much on the injustices that occurred within the home Elizabeth Cady Stanton was pushing for women’s right to vote and to participate fully in the running of the country. She shadows the Declaration of Independence to gain credibility and patriotism, particularly from the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men, and women, are created equal” (Patterns,557). The Declaration of Independance and the Declaration of Sentiments are purposefully compared. For example, the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence in order to inform the King of the unfairness and to take action and to make change. The Declaration of Sentiments does the exact same thing, only instead of the problems bing taxation without representation and the quartering acts, the issues were freedoms to vote, have property and own oneself apart from a spouse, followed by the promise to take action against the injustice. The whole document is a testament to the political injustuces raged by men against the women of the United States. All in all, Judy Blake’s I Want a Wife and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Declaration of Sentiments are similar and share similar end goals: equality and justice for women, however, the platforms