Judy Brady I Want A Wife

A woman’s place in the workforce is more accepted now than it has ever been before. However, in the 1970s, many women were expected to work in the home and be a supportive and loving wife to their husbands. Judy Brady, a feminist writer and survivor of breast cancer, writes about her longing for someone to take care of her as she takes care of her husband. First delivered at a rally in San Francisco in 1971 to mark the fifty year anniversary of American Women’s Suffrage, Brady’s essay awakened the minds of those women and men who saw the importance of gender equality. Despite the praises of her essay, “Why I Want a Wife”, the author fails to effectively state her point because of the possessive tone of voice, exaggeration, and false parallelism
She writes repetitively, using the same sentence structure for most of the essay. This causes the reader to lose interest and have biased opinions about her essay. As she continues to state her points, Brady begins to use stereotypes that must not define men and the way they treat women. She explains the dangers of a wife who does nothing to help keep the home stable and in good condition. Of these wives, Brady says, “Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free” (Brady 264). This statement shows the false validity of her argument and the way she presents her points. Exaggeration from Brady’s essay causes an individual attack on the role that men play in the home, as well as society. This causes the author to believe that there is only one solution to fix the problem that many women are facing as housewives in
However, she fails to acknowledge the male’s point of view. In an autobiography entitled I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai states that, “While boys and men could roam freely about town, my mother and I could not go out without a male relative to accompany us, even if it was a five-year-old boy! This was the tradition” (22). Yousafzai is able to effectively state her point because of the recognition she gives to all sides, while Brady is one-sided in her argument. Brady could have argued her side by stating the truth about men in America, making her argument