Judy Brady Why I Want A Wife

Who wouldn’t want someone who takes care of their significant other, the kids, the house, and everything inbetween? Judy brady asked, “who wouldn’t want a wife?” sarcastically after stating the “ideal” responsibilities of a women in the household around 1970 in her article. Women at that time were expected to do the work of a maid, while the men went out and worked a job to support the family. Judy Brady hints in her article, “Why I Want a Wife,” that there is discrimination against women. Women have the right to be treated as equals; therefore, responsibilities should be shared between man and wife. In order to connect with the audience, Brady applies ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to married women or women of middle age, and give
Judy understands how these women feel because she is both a wife and mother- she knows what is expected of them. She lists the jobs required to be done by the wife such as “take care of my children” or “take care of the details of my social life” (229) going into greater depth of each duty. Throughout her article you get a sense of humor. By going into great detail of the jobs, Brady shows her knowledge expressing that she has experienced this first hand- the audience begins to emotionally connect with Brady, since they are in similar situations. After listing job after job Brady asked “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife?” (230) sarcastically making her point, allowing the audience to feel the unfair justice against women. The readers now begin to realise that the responsibilities are distributed unevenly, and the wife deserves to also work a job, go to school, and share the typical duties a wife with her husband. Brady tells of her friend who is recently out of a divorce, describing how he left his child with the mother while he searches for a new wife. Brady realises that she wants a “wife”, someone to help her do her job: “As I thought about him I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife” (229). The situation she talks about is obscured, yet she wishes that she could have a wife. She does not literally want a wife,
Brady doesn’t use facts to support her claim, however, she explains the stereotype “wife” to her readers. Brady argues that women are required to do too much compared to men. The wife is expected to take care of the children, keep track of appointments, clean the house, clean the clothes, cook the meals, organize the husbands and families social life, fulfill his sexual needs and more. Along with these responsibilities, men expect the wife to support the family financially. Brady also makes an argument about the inequality between men and women. Brady shows that men act superior to women: “I want a wife who will not bother me with complaints about a wife’s duties. But I want a wife who listen to me when I feel the need to explain a rather difficult point I have come across in my course studies” (229). Men are allowed to complain about their hardships and expect the women to listen and mend to them, while women are not to complain about the injustice in responsibilities. Brady exclaims that women are expected to act a certain way, while men disrespect and undersize women as a whole. Another example of discrimination made was, while hosting friends, the wife is to serve “and not interrupt when I talk about things that interest me and my friends” (229). Unfortunately, the wife is suppose to act invisible, or act as a maid while her husband enjoys himself. Women are told what to do and how to do it, men are allowed