I Want A Wife

A wife is classified as a man’s spouse, partner or a woman. A woman can be classified as an adult female human being, female servant, subordinate, personal attendant, or domestic employee. The view of a woman has been misconstrued before the term feminist was engendered. Judy Brady uses the description of a wife’s role in her essay I Want a Wife to expose what a man subliminally believes a wife’s role is. Although the man may argue against the idea, women’s expectations, opportunities, and positions have changed in a positive but minute way over the years due to the lack of acknowledgment of the issue on the mans behalf.
In Judy Brady’s essay she eradicates the meaning of a wife from the man’s perspective. Brady uses personal reflection in
the beginning of her essay, which aids in the progression to the deeper understanding of what a wife is and what a wife does. Brady came to the conclusion that she wanted a wife. She wanted someone to do all the things that a wife in the 70’s would do ranging from cooking to sexual intercourse. Brady wanted to go back to school and wanted a wife who would clean, take care of the kids, and take care her and her needs. Brady’s repetitive tone fabricates the ideal of a perfect wife. She uses the phrase “I want” often to express the selfishness in her desires. It can be projected that Brady’s description of this ideal wife is a portrayal of her to an extent. Brady also uses a sarcastic tone in the end of her essay. She declares “. My God, who wouldn't want a wife?” Based on the view of the author, she represents a sarcastic and condescending tone because she expresses an ideal wife that is not likely to be found.
Brady is unfair, but she is just. Brady is classified as unfair because although women are criticized and treated unfairly, she never exposed the criticism a man receives. However women have been treated unfairly for an extensive period of time. Her essay is very relevant today. Women’s rights and views as wives still apply as they did in the 70’s. In the 70’s women fought hard for equal gender rights. This time era is when the famous We Can Do It ad came out. This ad promoted feminism in the workplace. Women began to realize that just because the men were gone doesn’t mean that life would stop. Life still went on in their towns and cities so the came up with this ad. Women also began to want more rights. More and more women began to want jobs in politics. Feminist Movements such as the equal pay, marital rape laws, and women’s education law became famous throughout the world.
Women today are still held to the same standards as they were in the past. Men see women as sex symbols, a wife, or mothers. In society today women still receive less pay than the fellow man. Women must work twice as hard just to be seen as worthy. Like in the 70’s, there are feminists in modern times that continue to fight for the woman. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a prime example of an influential feminist. She has worked along with Beyonce to spread her message in Beyonce’s new single Flawless. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Brady have similar views when it comes to the subject of marriage. Adichie pronounces,” Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my life choices
Always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important
Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support
But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage
And we don't teach boys the same?” Adichie’s approach to marriage is more straight and to the point than Brady’s essay, but they both are repeating each other in essence. Adidchie also believes in the success of women when it comes to work. She exclaims, “You can have ambition but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful otherwise you will threaten the man." Adidchie words explain how women have been told to succeed but not as much as the man. Women must never let the man feel below them; let him feel he is in control in the household and the workplace. Adidchie progresses into giving her definition of a feminist, “Feminist: the person who believes in the social
Political, and economic equality of the sexes.” When Adidche gives this definition she gives an outlook on who she is and what she believes.
I have experienced first hand society changing as it applies to women in the workplace.
When I had my interview for the job that I work at now there was a mix of boys and girls. In my interview sat a young man by the name of Timothy. Timothy was very smart and seemed like he knew the answer to every question thrown at us. Our interview was over and he ended up getting the job. He wasn’t the only boy who got the job though. Another boy named Justin also got the job. We all believed that we would need a few males who worked there. There main job would for the heavy lifting and safety, but we were wrong. Within 4 months both of them had left. Working at Menchies had become a female dominated profession. Of course another male was hired but was soon to be fired. The pink and green theme and bright setting was not to blame for their failure, but it was the lack of drive they had to do their best, compared to the females. We realized that anything they could do we could do better. If they lifted 15 pound we lifted 20, if they stood for 2 hours we stood for 3 hours and 30 minutes, if they made 500 dollars in sells we made 1,000. We were competitive because we had a lot to prove, not only to our manager who was a woman and our owner who was a man, but also to ourselves. It is now predicted that any male who comes to work at Menchies is not expected to do as well as a female when it comes to managing the store and sells. Although my personal experience displays growth in the workplace, this is just one exception out of the billions that need change. There are still myriads of places that have the opposite outcome as Menchies. Instead of the woman being successful and coming out on top it would usually be the man. The man would be the one who lasts longer; he would be the employee who receives the higher sales as well as the higher salary. He would also be the employee who receives more hours as a result of a safety issue, due to the fact that it is unsafe for a girl to be
closing a store with another girl past ten. They would be considered stronger and capable of handling the strenuous task.
In essence women’s rights have changed but not as much as it should. From the 70’s to 2014, marriage has shown to be the same. Judy Brady has given an example of what marriage was like in the 70’s and Beyonce has given an example of what marriage is like in 2014. The workplace environment has changed in some regions. It is evident that women must demand respect in the workplace to be respected. Brady shows that sometimes it is necessary to be selfish when all you do is give. Being selfish will help eliminate being ran over. Brady’s essay may seem fair to an extreme feminist but her views are unfair. Although they are unfair, they are just. Men don’t value women as much as they value other men. Men classify women as a female servant or a personal attendant or basically a slave. Men fail to hold women to the same standard as they do other men or even themselves. Brady’s essay is still relevant even after more than forty-four years have passed.