Why I Want a Wife

Why I Want a Wife: SATIRE

Why I Want a Wife- Judy Brady (Syfers)

READ THE FOLLOWING:

I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife.
And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.

Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh
from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his
ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I
was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that 1, too, would
like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?
I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically
independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent
upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I
am going to school, I want a wife to take care of my children. I want a
wife to keep track of the children's doctor and dentist appointments. And
to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children eat
properly and are kept clean. I want a wife who will wash the children's
clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturant
attendant to my children, who arranges for their schooling, makes sure
that they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to
the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when
they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need
special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. My
wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job. It may mean
a small cut in my wife's income from time to time, but I guess I can
tolerate that. Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care
of the children while my wife is working.

I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife
who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children,
a wife who will pick up after me. 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. I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife
who is a good cook.  I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the
necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and
then do the cleaning up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will
care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time
from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation
so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a
rest and change of scene.
I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a
wife's duties. But I want a wife who will listen to me when I feel the
need to explain a rather difficult point I have come across in my course
studies. And I want a wife who will type my papers for me when I have
written them.

I want a wife who will take care of the details of my social life.
When my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will
take care of the baby-sitting arrangements. When I meet people at school
that I like and want to entertain, I want a wife who will have the house
clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and
not interrupt when I talk about things that interest me and my friends. I
want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready
for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I
want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel
comfortable, who makes sure that they have an ashtray, that they are
passed the hors d'oeuvres, that they are offered a second helping of the
food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary, that their
coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows
that sometimes I need a night out by myself.

I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes
love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure
that I am satisfied. And, of course, I want a wife who will not demand
sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it. I want a wife who
assumes the complete responsibility for birth control, because I do not
want more children. I want a wife who will remain sexually faithful to me
so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies.
And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more
than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate
to people as fully as possible.
If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the
wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with
another one. 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.

When I am through with school and have a job, I want my wife to quit
working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely
take care of a wife's duties.

My God, who wouldn't want a wife?

Author: Judy Brady (Syfers)ANSWER THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR BLOG

1. Does this essay have an explicitly stated thesis? If so, what is it? If you believe the thesis is implied, paraphrase it in your own words.

I really believe that the message that the author is actually saying is definitely not the message she is trying to get across.  She is talking about how she wants someone to do this for her, but I believe that she really is just stating what men want women to do for them. 

 2. Throughout the essay, Brady repeats the words “I want a wife.” What is the effect of this repetition?

I believe that she is repeating those words, because she wants people to know that a wife (woman) are expected to do all the things she is saying.  It's aher way of expressing the fact that a good wife is almost required to do these things.

3. Do you think Brady really wants the kind of wife she describes—does this ideal spouse

actually exist? Explain why you think Brady wrote this essay.

I think she wrote this essay to show how unrealistic it is to have a perfect wife.  As she talks about all the things a wife is "supposed" to do, she seems like she is making the point that it truely is impossible to find someone that can or really will want to do all those things.  I definitely don't think Brady wants to be this kind of wife. 

4. How does Brady define what it means to be a “wife”? How does she organize the many services a wife provides her husband and family? What do you think of Brady’s characterization of a wife and her responsibilities? How do you think she wants her readers to respond to this characterization? Why?Brady organizes a wife's duties around what the husband would need to live a great life.  She doesn't really talk about what the wife does for herself to live a comfortable life. 

5. Write a letter to Brady responding to “I Want a Wife.” Let her know what you admire or don’t admire about the essay and the extent to which you consider it effective and/or persuasive.

Dear Ms. Brady,

I actually really like this article.  It makes me think of a song by Tammy Wynette called Stand By Your Man. 

Sometimes its hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doing things that you don't understand

But if you love him you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh be proud of him
'Cause after all he's just a man

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely

Stand by your man
And tell the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

The song makes fun of how men feel like they don't have to stay true to one woman, but how they feel like women need to be faithful to one man. I really like how you are showing the double standard set by men.  I really think this article is a call to action for woman, to first of all not be the perfect wife and do all these things, but also to change the sterotype that men have set for women. 

I admire the fact that during such a time when people were not really talking about Woman's Rights, you had the courage to speak your mind and share the inequalities you saw.  I also really like how you kind of trick people into thinking you were talking about how women should be more faithful and helpful to men, but really you were writing a political paper discussing the problems in society. 

I don't really know if the people in the 50's understood what you were talking about, but I feel like both men and woman liked your article, but for completely different reasons.  Because men are stupid, I bet they completely agreed with the article and talked about it in the sense that "There's a woman who really knows her place and gets things right in the world!"  The probably all laughed and joked about how they all wished their wives could be as great as you are and then they probably all farted and scratched themselves.  But the woman were most likely empowered by your article, because it truely showed the life that men wanted women to live.  This article said it all black and white.  I'm sure women looked at this article and checked things off the list that they did, not even realizing they were being taken advantage of. 

Thank you for writing this article and revealing to both men and women the true inequalities woman had to face in not only in the 50's but still today.

Sincerely,

Claudia Smith