Preview

The Awakening Synthesis Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1023 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Awakening Synthesis Essay
The Awakening Synthesis Essay When a woman decides to abstain from having children, her choice is not taken lightly by peers around her. A woman is expected to find a partner, get married, have children, and be their primary caregiver. Psychologically, a woman’s social clock, also known as a cultural timetable for certain events to occur, is ticking as she feels the need and urge to accomplish each task that is expected of her. A significant author, Kate Chopin, considers the social clock insignificant and dismisses it as she believes that women should not be held to the societal standards that are expected of them. In today’s society, the societal norms of a woman are nowhere near as drastic as they were about one hundred years ago, but they still need improvement in many areas. Equal pay, the choice to decide whether or not to have children, the choice to have an abortion, the choice to do just anything can be unfairly judged by others, many of whom do not know half of what women go through on a daily basis. The societal pressures of women in the …show more content…
From birthing a child to taking care of cooking and cleaning, it is hard to imagine what life would be like if a woman was not held to generic standards. Judy Brady’s essay, “I Want a Wife,” shows complete satire of what a perfect, model wife would be like in the eyes of a man. She presents an image of someone who gets no breaks and succumbs to her husband’s every word. This someone, the model wife, is unrealistic but desired by some. The societal expectations of women in the 1970’s, when this essay was originally published, has influenced the rights of women today. There has definitely been improvement in women having more freedom to do whatever they choose to do, but generally speaking, women are still expected to be a wife who does everything for her children and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    For centuries, society defined women using their generational stereotypes. According to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the woman’s social status progression and digression needs to be investigated. Her book, “Good Wives”, expands on what societal stereotypes created the ideal women in 17th and 18th century New England. Ulrich approached the topic with a virtually unbiased opinion and attempted to explore all socio-economic classes to relay deeper understanding of pre-modern gender roles.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the early nineteenth century, African Americans were involved in the "Second Awakening". They met in camp meetings and sang without any hymnbook. Spontaneous songs were composed on the spot. They were called "spiritual songs and the term "sperichil" (spiritual) appeared for the first time in the book "Slave Songs of The United States".The negro spirituals "The Gospel Train" and "Swing low, sweet chariot" which directly refer to the Underground Railroad, an informal organization who helped many slaves to flee.The meaning of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected personal relationship between the slave singer and God.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many wives sometimes feel unappreciated, neglected, and often used; which sometimes may lead to speaking out loud for themselves. This was the case with a woman in the 70s named Judy Brady. In 1971, Judy Brady’s essay “I Want a Wife” was in the first edition of Ms. Magazine; which targeted the inequality that was promised to women at this time. Being as the 70s was a time when women constantly struggled for equality and rights, Brady has some very interesting views on the term “wife.” Brady begins her thought process after hearing from a male friend who has recently become divorced. With him being single, and looking for a new wife; it occurred to Brady that she too wanted a wife of her own.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The cases Friedan brought up in the first chapter confirms how unhappy women are, pointing towards feminine fulfillment being met early, lack of energy, and “housewife fatigue.”2 The goals women were expected to make were to marry early, have children, and act as a modern housewife. Per Friedan’s observations, most women typically didn’t have the time or experience to set their own personal goals. With goals as a woman having been sorted out incredibly early into a woman’s timeline, it’s difficult to find a source of satisfaction for the next decade or more without setting any new goals aside from what society has expected. In addition, housewives are being taxed daily. With many husbands working a 9-5, their wives are left to sort out the…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 1970’s, the fight for women’s suffrage was a major highlighted impact amongst the nation as women everywhere fought for their equality with men. Within this time, women were considered to be obligated to take of the family and the home without any gratitude. Judy Brady effectively points this out to the readers of Ms. Magazine in 1972, where she publishes an article that opens eyes across the nation. In her article, “Why I Want a wife,” Brady uses techniques such as pathos to discuss her duties as a wife and to show the unfairness and inequality that her position upholds.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States in the 1970s was a jumbled place to live in, the feminist movement was just getting underway and would became one of the most influential feminists movement to this day. Judy Brady wrote “Why I Want a Wife” in 1972 and published it to Ms.Magazine. This was a monumental step towards women's rights; however, women would not get the rights they wanted till later. In “Why I Want a Wife”, Judy Brady uses pathos, emotional appeal, to relate to the audience on a emotional level and show them the ignorance men were showing towards their rights.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Tv's Gender Roles

    • 1818 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In the 21st century, women must have a career and job to support a family compared to the 1950’s when women had the choice to be a stay at home mother or have a career. Spigel states, “Like Donna Reed, who sacrificed her nursing career for life with Dr. Alex Stone […]” (Spigel 224), the author is indicating that most women during the 1950’s decided to be a homemaker because that was what society expected of them. Television emphasizes and values the role of the ideal wife and a homemaker. Furthermore, The Donna Reed Show illustrated wives to be marginal at home and central to the economy. Haralovich states, “In her value to the economy, the homemaker was at once central and marginal” (Haralovich 70). Basically, women’s labor in the home was highly valued and was given social satisfaction by consuming products to live the suburban American dream. However, women roles from today have changed due to the shift in gender roles in the American society. The “Study Date” episode of Good Luck Charlie is a perfect illustration of an ideal wife and women in today’s society. For example, Amy has to work, take care of her family, by cooking and cleaning. There is now a huge pressure for women to go to college, get a career, and to get married and raise a family. Some women now are breadwinners and some men are stay at home dads. Due to economic pressures from society, both spouses have to work to maintain…

    • 1818 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Awakening was a sort of religious revival that swept through the English colonies and was a reaction against the Enlightenment which had started due to the mass of wealth and greed of the church and upper class, leading to up to the American Revolution by inspiring an idea of democracy and independence in the colonists. It connected the colonies by a religious bond and made many colonists feel they were equal because they united to protest the greed of the church and upper class, which was the sentiment of the protestant religion craze. This freedom and equality that came with all the classes was completely opposite of the British’s idea of equality…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women roles have drastically changed since the late 18th and early 19th century. During this time, women did not have the freedom to voice their opinions and be themselves. Today women don’t even have to worry about the rules and limitations like the women had to in this era. Edna in “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin and Nora in “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen were analogous protagonists. The trials they faced were also very similar. Edna and Nora were both faced with the fact that they face a repressive husband whom they both find and exit strategy for. For Nora this involved abandoning her family and running away, while Edna takes the option that Nora could not do-committing suicide. These distinct texts both show how women were forced to act during their marriage and towards society during this time.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Edna Pontellier is the main character of the novel, meaning she is the protagonist. Edna is a woman with two children, married to a Leonce Pontellier. Though she complied with society most of her life, she has always felt empty. She loves her husband but is not in love with him. She realizes her oppression and want for freedom when she learns to swim. Her thoughts on love and sex are two un-related things.…

    • 2616 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Awakening Essay

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Following the spread of Enlightenment ideas to the American colonies, aspects of the intellectual movement bled over to influence religious aspects of American society, resulting in what became known as the Great Awakening. This religious movement placed increased focus on the individual and relied heavily on emotional sermons to encourage a deeper connection to Christ. While many saw the Great Awakening as a powerful, religious movement encompassing the ordinary classes of society, there were some discrepancies regarding the way in which it was received in society. According to the writings of Benjamin Franklin, for example, priests and religious institutions initially rejected evangelists such as George Whitefield and their new preaching…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the narrative style essay written by Judy Brady (1971), "I Want a Wife", she uses out right sarcasm and exaggeration with a slight humorous tone. This demonstrates her stance on the unrealistic demands that were placed on women in that era. She starts off her essay stating "I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not al-together incidentally, I am a mother" (1971). As if being a wife and a mother was almost an undesirable task to bear in life. I suppose that in the 1900 century it pretty much was to an extent. The way Brady goes on to list the expected duties of her wife, makes her sound more like a servant than anything else. She even mentions her wife performing things like…

    • 1473 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I Want a Wife

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Judy Brady writes in her article about the demands that are required from women. She stresses the point that the roles of women are unfair to the role of men. Also, that there is a distinct difference, inequality, between the roles of men and women. She writes about this because she is tired of the feeling inferiority to men and that the work that women undertake is overlooked. She illustrates her point by listing the numerous tasks that are commonly expected from women. "I want a wife who will 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." After listing the numerous outrageous tasks, she ends the article with an emotional statement, "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?"…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Second Shift

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Traditionally men worked and brought home the bacon while women stayed home and took care of the children and the home. This changed when the new liberated independent women became driven towards acquiring a career, caring for the children and balancing domestic work. Thus women started to complain about being exhausted from working, multi-tasking, and solely taking care of the house-hold, while their husbands worked and bring forth a paycheck and think that is efficient enough and his job is pretty much done. ‘’I definitely concur with The Second Shift because this essay most women can really relate to, including me. It filters the contribution of what the husband brings to the house-hold versus the woman. It makes me ponder about why our husbands are letting us become husbands”. The author, Ariel Hochschild demonstrates keen examples and stated factual research from her findings on the percentages of husbands that said they should help out around the house and the ones that actually did, and furious Wives who not only had to work an eight hour shift; but also took care of the house-hold duties and tended to the children. From the author’s eight year research she concluded that failed marriages were not due to alcohol, physical and or mental abuse, infidelity, or financial problems, but due to the lack of domestic assistance from the husband.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women 1800s to 2000s

    • 1662 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Trauth, Denise. The Changing Role of Women. Texas State U, 21 Oct. 2002. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.…

    • 1662 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics