I Want a Wife

I Want a Wife

In Judy Brady’s “I Want a Wife” issued in Ms. magazine in the spring of 1972 she speaks how unfair the role of the husband is, and that there is an obvious difference, inequality, between the roles of husband and wife. Exhausted by disparities in the household work and by the fact that the work done by wife goes unnoticed, she boldly expresses her feelings. Brady demonstrates her point by giving examples of some household chores that are commonly performed by wife. "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 ."(4 ) After listing all this numerous outrageous tasks, she concludes the article with an emotional statement, "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?"

Tone Sardonic, Cynical

Discourse Division, Analysis

Rhetorical Terms

Anaphora- “I want a wife to take care… I want a wife ”

Rhetorical Question- “Why do I want a wife?”(2)

Exordium- “I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife. And not although incidentally, I am a mother.” 1)

Asyndeton- “I want a wife who is a good nurturant attendant to my children, who arranged to their schooling, make sure they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, zoo, etc.” 3)

Metaphor- “if by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the library to replace my present wife with another one” (8)

Irony- “ my wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job” (3)

Meaning #1 Is Brady unfair to men? I do agree with Brady with how the common role of a wife is to do most of the house work, but she does need to give men some credit. Maybe her husband isn’t the best husband ever and maybe he doesn’t do much, and this is why she downgrades men, but many men nowadays do take on some of the roles women have....