ipl-logo

Rhetorical Analysis Of I Want A Wife

734 Words3 Pages

For centuries, women all over the world have been treated with absurd discrimination and misogyny. Judy Brady’s satirical “I Want a Wife” essay during the 1970’s demonstrates how privileged men can be and the objectification of women, otherwise known as, “A Wife”. Brady begins listing reasons on how having a wife would benefit the husband, but more importantly, she effectively proves how privileged a man really is, married or not. “Why do I want a wife?” Even though Brady is asking herself this rhetorical question, it illustrates how normalized it was to glorify the idea of ‘having a wife’. The tone she uses intends that she is taking the role of a man who wants to pick and choose through all the wife-like attributes that will benefit him …show more content…

She starts off with an ironic demand, “My wife must arrange to lose time at work… Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while my wife is working.” The readers should know by now it’s obvious a wife must have the burden of losing time at work but still to arrange for the care of the children while she is working. However, considering the role Brady is playing in the essay, calling it a burden for a wife is ridiculous. On the topic of ridiculous, the husband also demands that he wants “...a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints… But I want a wife who will listen to me when I feel the need to explain a rather difficult point…” Brady successfully uses pathos to appeal to her audience’s sense of narcissism by claiming she wants her wife to sympathize for her, but not the other way around. The quote clearly expresses how it would not make sense for a wife to ever feel upset, or have any feelings at all. Brady ends the passage with a rhetorical question, “My god, who wouldn’t want a wife?” The last line in her writing treats a wife as a popular ‘toy in the store’ among men. Brady tells the readers that they should be agreeing with her and ask themselves the same question, who wouldn’t want a

Show More
Related

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Why I Want A Wife By Brady

401 Words | 2 Pages

Brady appeals to the reader’s emotions in her article why I want a wife by using pathos. She creates a connection between herself and the reader to make the reader feel what she is feeling and relate to her, which by definition is pathos. In Brady’s article “Why I Want a Wife” she develops a valid argument of why she wants a “wife” by using examples of pathos to connect with her female readers of the Ms. Magazine and draw their attention. This is a rather effective method when one considers that this article was written in the 1970’s when women’s rights acts was just starting to take place.

Read More

Hope Edelman's 'The Myth Of Co-Parenting'

1132 Words | 5 Pages

As Edelman writes she continually repeats her angry thought process. She begins by bringing up a situation and detailing the situation with a mild tone that portrays a feeling of indifference towards her split parenting with her husband. As she continues to describe the event the tone shifts to one of more cynicism. The first example of this occurs when Edelman’s husband, John, increased his hours at work and Edelman began by describing it as a “good excuse [for her] not to work like a maniac” (51). This illustrates her mild tone and acceptance of her having to work less than before.

Read More

Rose Maxson Character Traits

494 Words | 2 Pages

Providing for your husband and always being hospitable is trademark for housewives of the time period. However, she is not passive or submissive and is not afraid to stand up for herself, even to her husband. In this way she breaks the stereotypical mold of her time period and begins taking the role of an independent woman. When she’s leaving the house to go to a bake sale, Troy asks her when she’ll be back and she responds, “Ain’t no use studying me. It don’t matter what time I come back” (82).

Read More

The Consumptions Of Women In The Chaser By John Collier

1172 Words | 5 Pages

For many centuries in our society women have been confined into a stereotypical idea of a patriarchal society. In today 's society the idea isn’t as much viewed upon with all the rights women have been given, but the concept still lingers in some of men 's minds. More so, than today, in the 19th century women were obligated to abide to the principle of gender roles and a male dominated culture. Women were seen as to be a slave and to act a certain way towards men as well as be able to gratify man 's lust of expectations of a perfect woman. These presumptions of women had been very much portrayed in short story , The Chaser by John Collier, in which a boy name Alan Austen seeks for a love potion from an old man, for a girl he likes name Diana.

Read More

What Is The Tone Of Abigail Adams Letter To Her Husband

838 Words | 4 Pages

She may be upset with her husband, but she does still miss him. She talks of the “tedious absence” and her longing for an evening. Mrs. Adams does not particularly enjoy being a housewife, but now she has to be both parents in her husband's absence. She sounds tired and lonely underneath the fire of her small rant about her husband’s proclamations. It is clear that through all these struggles they are still a loving team.

Read More

Dr. Heideggers Experiment And Resistance To Civil Government

559 Words | 3 Pages

This is a great example of Irving’s criticism. His view of women are to be very harsh to their husbands and sometimes even

Read More

What Are The Similarities Between Of Mice And Men And Curley's Wife

703 Words | 3 Pages

This theme of forced gender roles in relationships carries over into other works such as "I Want A Wife" by Judy Brady. Readers are not meant to think that she truly wants a wife but to know that she is talking about the concept of a wife in a marriage. Brady writes from her perspective as a wife and expresses her desire to be cared for in the same way wives are often told to care for their husbands. Women in the time that she wrote this piece were expected to stay home, cook for their husbands, clean for their husbands, and take care of children on top of everything else.

Read More

Analysis Of Lady Mary Chudleigh's Poem 'To The Ladies'

995 Words | 4 Pages

She must fear her husband and listen to his every command. “Wife and servant are the same/ But only differ in the name” (1-2). She exhibits affinity between a wife and a servant by using a metaphor. The title of being a wife is the only thing that makes them different.

Read More

Analysis Of Tradeoffs: Monogamy Vs. Polygamy

1395 Words | 6 Pages

She is passive on the fact that she is barely around her own child and that her husband doesn’t have much to do with London either, but is completely okay with having to compromise at times, when she feels like she needs her husband’s touch, by having to schedule her feelings. She concludes with an agreeable statement that polygamy doesn’t work for most; but it works for someone like her, who that rather lives an independent life free from most responsibilities. I agree with her last sentence. If polygamy hadn’t already existed, America would have created

Read More

Symbolism In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party

440 Words | 2 Pages

With the wife being sensitive to the husband when she “was still crying” about the husband’s smart comment makes the reader think that she is easy to upset (Brush 19). With seeing this reaction the reader might conclude that the couple might have a past of predicaments. As for the husband, he comes across as a harsh man when he says the “punishing thing” to his wife (Brush 17). Just through this one statement the reader can feel a sense of dominance over the wife. The reader understands that the husband has more control in the family.

Read More

Transcendentalism In Margaret Fuller's Woman In The Nineteenth Century

1099 Words | 5 Pages

She is a well-educated, attractive woman and yet, in America, she is considered unmarriageable because of the unintended intimidation her knowledge brings forth. She can’t understand why men would not want to find a woman with whom they can carry on an intelligent, meaningful conversation and still be physically attracted to. She knows that once this inferiority complex is gotten past, women will start to excel in all different fields (7, 8). The intense passion of her message in Women in the 19th Century blows away both her male and female audience

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Why I Want A Wife

557 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1970’s women were expected to stay at home and take care of the household. They were usually not expected to further their education, but instead take care of the children or tend to their husbands’ needs. In 1972 Judy Brady decided to let the readers of Ms. Magazine know how she felt about her “duties”. In her short essay, “Why I Want a Wife,” Brady uses pathos to connect and appeal to the reader’s emotions while explaining why she wants a wife.

Read More

Hillary Clinton Wives

990 Words | 4 Pages

She retorts, however, that if she married him, he would be a success as well. Wives have great power over their spouse and their spouse’s success. While husbands are frequently recognized for their financial and political power, oftentimes it is the wives that truly secured their success. Wives are often viewed as submissive and weaker than their counterpart; however, their great influence over their spouse’s success seems to definitely suggest

Read More

Of Mice And Men Misogyny Quotes

815 Words | 4 Pages

During the time frame of the Great Depression misogyny was so common no one even thought about feminism and equality for women, Curley’s wife is a character we see experiencing misogyny, on the contrary in present times feminism has become a movement for equality; to get misogyny out of things like the workplace. One example of misogyny the author uses is the name ‘Curely’s Wife’ instead of her actual

Read More

Women And Their Rights In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

791 Words | 4 Pages

During the 1890’s until today, the roles of women and their rights have severely changed. They have been inferior, submissive, and trapped by their marriage. Women have slowly evolved into individuals that have rights and can represent “feminine individuality”. The fact that they be intended to be house-caring women has changed.

Read More

More about Rhetorical Analysis Of I Want A Wife

Open Document