Why I [Still] Want a Wife

Judy Brady’s piece was an exceptional illustration of gender inequalities that were rampant in the 1970s when this was first published, and are still unfortunately relevant in society today. Throughout the writing Judy Brady details the duties of a “proper wife,” a person that understands the need for personal time, that accepts a partner that isn’t necessarily monogamous, and of course a person who will cook, clean, shop for groceries, and care for the children.

The author’s use of satire aptly depicts her intense disgust for the stereotyping of women and wives in the society she lived in. They were responsible not only for maintaining the house and caring for the children, but sacrificing their own dreams and happiness to always put the husband first, a concept that applies even to the couple’s sexual relationship. There is no equality between a husband and wife, and I believe that was Brady’s point.

When two people enter into a marriage, in a perfect world everything would be identical: housework, financials, childcare, and anything else that came along would be divided equally between the two people. That is a juvenile ambition: nothing in life is equal, so in some places a wife gives more than she takes, as does the husband, so while every single task isn’t necessarily equal, both parties are satisfied.

But even that is more or less an ideal concept. Women for centuries have taken care of the house, and though we live in a more accepting, feministic society, little girls still play with baby dolls and kitchen sets when they are young. There is a mindset seemingly ingrained in our DNA stating that women belong in the house and men belong in the workplace. That is rapidly changing, but there are men around today that view women as lesser citizens simply because of their gender.

In her writing, Judy Brady shines a light on how utterly ridiculous it is for a man to expect a woman to do so many things. Of course everything won’t be equal, and it is rare when both parties are satisfied with the amount of work the other person does. Judy Brady simply suggests a metaphorical walk in the other person’s shoes: see what their lives are like before passing judgments and criticisms.

Brady’s piece illustrates a lack of respect, and that is a component missing in many marriages today. When this article was published it related overall to the plight of homemaking women in the mid-1900s, but reading it now is different. It is overall a story about taking a person for granted, and that happens in relationships today, especially when both parties work full-time. Therefore, Brady’s message that there isn’t any equality in a marriage is changing, albeit slower in some areas than in others. The phrase, “Who wouldn’t want a wife?” ends the piece, and essentially what the author is suggesting is the need for partnership in a marriage, something that was clearly lacking throughout the rest of the story.

Why I [Still] Want a Wife

Author, Judy Brady, wasn't describing a wife in her writing she was describing a maid or nanny. No wife, or person for that matter, should even be expected to give up their entire life for one person. A wife is supposed to be equal to her husband. However, as Brady wrote that's not always the truth. This was written in 1997 so a lot has changed with the equality of wives and husbands in society, but wives are still expected to do more than husbands are. A wife is expected to no hold a job while still make sure that all household chores are completed.

While she may have written this in an almost condescending manner certain husbands do expect this much from their wives. You can almost infer that her husband treats her this way which is why she's so dead set on this point of view. She wants a wife so that someone else can take that pressure that she feels off of her own back.

On page 236 she wrote, "Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while my wife is working." When I read this I questioned why it says my wife will arrange and pay, when you're married aren't you supposed to split costs especially when it comes to the kids?

On page 237 when she spoke about divorce that hit home with me. My parents got divorced when I was three and after I turned five I never saw my dad again. Her exact words were, "Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take care of the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am free." I can't speak for the rest of the world, but that's basically what happened to me. It isn't a nice feeling growing up not knowing why my dad left.

This reading emphasis the gender role inequalities between men and women. While we may be quick to say that it doesn't exist anymore it does. It might not be to the extent that Brady wrote about, but women are still expected to do more for the family than men are.

True or Real

After reading the twilight rhetorical analysis article, what I really found striking was the paragraph talking about the ambiguity of the characters.

This seemed extremely important to me because sci-fi, fantasy, and romance novels are all ways to escape reality and upon further reflection i found that all these sorts of books that i have personally read the characters and plot were equally if not "less" developed. it was interesting to see that my mind is what really created the story for me, and this directly relates and applies to the twilight readers. The idea that you are putting yourself within the scenario, it is easily relate able, and that you are basically creating the entire story in your own mind, are what make it so appealing and addictive. It is a way to escape reality and make our own fantasies come true, and this is why books such as Twilight are so popular, and so so much about the age groups that read and discuss them.

Twilight, through the way it is written does appeal to a certain "mass" of people in this case young adult females and "moms," in a way that Game of Thrones appeals to a whole different mass of young adult males and "Men."

It was also very interesting to read about how "perfect" Edward was made out to be with so little details given in the actual book apparently, how is that possible? It is because we are viewing him through Bella's eyes and the mass of people that have read it indirectly agree upon what he looks like and does, based off of all the little details. to me this was absolutely fascinating because it explains a lot about human perception and relate-ability in today's modern society. Overall this article took a great point of view and made a terrific eye "opening" rhetorical analysis and arguement.

Fantasizing

After reading the two articles I found it difficult to write anything meaningful, I was left devoid of inspiration. Romance and fantasy novels don’t connect with me, I don’t find the appeal. The one thing that I can relate to is fantasizing.

Fantasy is a way to escape, a brief reprieve from a painful reality. For Bella, Edward is her escape from a divorced family and a naïve father. Fantasy can be something that breaks the norm. Living in society that turns reality into a fantasy, Bella is left in the middle to chose. She becomes lost betwixt the two worlds.

For Judy her fantasy is a wife, what she really wants is someone that connects with her on an emotion and physical level. Someone that allows her to be free and independent, she wants to go back to the carefree days. It’s a common dream that every individual has, to have a worry free life, to be able to do what you want when you want. Dreams create personal goals, something for everyone to strive for. Without them no one would pursue the future they want.

Twilight

I really enjoyed this reading. Having read both the " Harry Potter " series and the ' Twilight" series I completely see were this is coming from. I think to compare " Harry Potter" to " Twilight" is just a horrible thing!
“Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.”
― Stephen King I loved this quote. Harry Potter just has so much more depth and meaning then Twilight. When I read the " Twilight" series I wont lie, I was hooked. I went through those books like water. The thing about " Twilight" is that it doesn't make anyone think. It has no deeper meaning. I agree with the article that the reason it was so popular was because it made girls feel like they didn't have to do anything, that they could be boring and ugly and still get the best guy to walk the face of the earth.
" She is purposely made as featureless and ordinary as possible in order to render her a vacant flexible skin into which the reader can insert herself and thereby vicariously enjoy Edward's chilly charms." I loved this! Girls would love to be Bella is an escape from their own insecurities. I think the book appeals mostly to teen girls because their at a stage in their life were they really need to belong. Bella's journey of becoming part of the Cullen family I feel is all about this. Its such an intense feeling of belonging that teen girls eat it up. The other age group the author of this article said Twilight appealed to was Moms. I think this is because older woman have lost a lot of the intensity that they once had in there relationships. Also as woman age they start to revert back to their insecure stage which would I feel make them want to read about a man who will still love his girl even when she looks like a wrinkled prune.
Over all I really enjoyed reading this article I thought it was spot on. No one should ever compare Harry Potter to Twilight!

Why I Still Want a Wife

This short story is trying to say how the wife’s role is so corrupt. She is going step by step how she pictures the perfect wife and she is bashing men for how they look and treat their wives. She just lists all of the wants that she would like for her “wife” to do. “I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep the house clean. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when they need to be, and so that all of my personal things are put in the correct place so I can find them in a minute.” (Brady, 236). Brady makes it painfully obvious how she does not like the lack of respect get in this world.

This is just one women’s view on this, is this really what happens in today’s world? Personally I believe that this does not happen to this extent now a day. Men have much more respect for women now than they ever did and I do not believe that a self respecting guy would ever expect this all from a woman. This writer is very feminist in thinking that this is all correct in today’s times. Any woman has just as much of a chance in making a career for themselves and not just taking care of children as anyone else does. In today’s times some men even take on the roll of the stay at home mom and that is not uncommon. This could be happening in some households but with my knowledge of how the world works this is not how woman are treated now. For men to get a good wife the man has to be a good man as well and treat her with as much respect as possible otherwise that man wont have a happy life.

Rob Falcone

Does the "Wife" Role Still Exist?

Today, society has been progressing towards erasing the lines between what are the male and female roles in our culture. Although those lines still exist, crossing over has begun, and now, we are closer than ever towards equality between the genders.

In Judy Brady’s reading, she says, “it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would want a wife” (235). From there, she continues to create the stereotypical reasons behind wanting a wife: someone to do the chores, cooking, raising of the children, etc. But, does that still hold true today? In some parts of our culture, the typical “housewife” idea is still the main belief.

On television, there are shows like “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”, depicting women without jobs, who “take care” of the home. These women, however, have an additional job of showing off the large amounts of money their husbands earn through the size of the house, the cost of their pedicure, and even the amount of diamonds on their dog’s collar. This idea of the wife is to reflect the husband’s wealth through gracious hosting skills and “forever young” looks.

Moving on to the less wealthy classes, a wife still maintains the typical duties. Their jobs are to clean, cook, watch the children, and take care of the social activities. They continue to do what their mother’s have done before them. In today’s society, there are woman who still do this job over a job in the workforce. Some of them want to be someone’s wife as their occupation, and others are just left with no choice due to the circumstances they are in.

The images of a housewife, though, are slowly fading. More and more women have jobs in the work force instead of being stay at home moms. Since the women’s rights were passed in the 1920s, a slow progress has been made towards allowing equal opportunities to females. But the fad and image of a woman staying at home has been fighting to stay alive for generations now. Women who believe in having their own jobs and paycheck though have been fighting back, effecting how women are viewed in our society.

Now, it isn’t uncommon to see a woman in the courthouse presenting a case or in a hospital performing heart surgery on a patient. The ratio of men to women in such careers is still a large gap, but very slowly; the walls of masculine jobs versus feminine jobs are disappearing. There has been a large increase of men becoming stay at home dads while their wives have gone to work. Such an idea forty years ago would be unheard of, but now, it’s nothing new.

For now, with the way things have been moving, time is all that’s needed before the walls between a wife and a husband’s duties will disappear and the responsibilities will be shared between the two. Maybe the wife will bring home the money because her job is better paying, or maybe the husband will still go to work because the wife wants to be at home with the kids. Or another choice, both the parents will work while the kids are at school.

So Brady should reconsider her standings now as a wife…does she act like the stereotypical wife because she has no other option or is it because she allowed this to happen to herself? In today’s society, the role of the wife is slowly becoming abstract, different for each couple. Maybe to Brady a wife must perform all those tasks, but in the way our culture works now, with the roles of husband and wife intermingling together, her last statement should actually be, “My God, who wouldn’t want a [spouse]?” (237).