Why I Want A Wife Essay, Research Paper
Why I Want A Wife
Judy Syfers originally published this article, ?Why I Want A Wife,? in the Spring
1972 issue of Ms. magazine. In this article, Ms. Syfers presents a witty satirical view of
a women?s traditional role as a servant to her husband. When first published she used
her married name of Syfers, but now goes by Judy Brady. She is a free lance writer
and a political activist who earned a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Iowa.
Judy has been married, raised two daughters, and then returned to San Francisco
where she was born. She now devotes much of her time to the politics of cancer.
Judy Brady does a wonderful job of grabbing the reader?s attention. She has a
intriguing title that makes the reader more curious. She also has an anecdote that
makes the reader wonder why a woman would want a wife. Although Judy does not
have a long introduction to her article, she is effective in immediately gaining the
reader?s attention.
Ms. Brady accomplishes her purpose by using a variety of literary devices. The
one that is most prevalent is sarcasm. This is can be seen throughout the whole paper.
She is constantly using sarcasm to describe a wife?s role. ?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.? (303)
This also is another example of one of her strategies. She uses flat and round
characters to get her point across more clearly. The wife is a round character with
many responsibilities and jobs. The husband, on the other hand, is a flat character who
is only concerned with himself and has no depth.
As one reads this, he/she can immediately tell that Judy has gone through all of
the situations she describes and has put a humorous twist on them. She also uses
great detail in describing why she wants a wife. ?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.?
(303)
Reoccurrence of key elements is also a literary device that Ms. Brady uses
throughout her article. She is always describing what the wife does for the husband,
but notice how she never describes what the husband does for the wife. She uses this
as a strong building block in her paper. Without using this, she would not have
accomplished her message that a wife is always giving and that a husband expects a
wife to meet all of these traditional standards. Stereotyping is one of the most obvious
devices that she uses. She uses the stereotype that all husbands are looking for a wife
as giving as the one described in the article. Although this may not be true, it does
make her point come across more effectively.
In my opinion, I thought this was an awesome article to read. It kept my
attention and was something that I enjoyed reading because of its witty and insightful
comments. Judy Brady did a marvelous job at obtaining her goal in this paper. I know
many wives and girlfriends would agree with this article. I will save this article and
keep it for years to come. This article made me laugh and could also appreciate more
the role of a wife.
Bibliography
Work Cited
Brady, Judy. ?Why I Want A Wife,? Connections. London: Mayfield Publishing, 1997.