I first came across this piece during a scorching hot afternoon, which may have driven me to be more flustered than usual about this subject. This is an essay written by Judy Brady (a.k.a. Judy Syfers) titled "Why I Want a Wife". I will try to summarize it, but it's a short 5 paragraph-ish satirical, feminist paper.
link: http://www.cwluherstory.org/why-i-want-a-wife.html
To put this article into context, it was first published in Ms. (magazine), a feminist magazine started by Gloria Steinem, a popular movie star/playboy bunny in the 70's. The magazine is known for not containing any advertisement and for landmark issues, like presenting a published list of women who admitted to having abortions before they were legal in the Roe vs. Wade case which included many movie stars.
The essay Brady rights is a sarcastic description of the All-American Mom (a.k.a. Soccer Mom). This is to the very pinnacle of what a mother is expected to be in our culture. A mom is a : chauffeur, a nurse, a valet, a sexual partner, etc. Brady explains that wife is expected to guide and help their husbands regardless of their own needs, and she knows this because she is one. She mockingly describes all the jobs that a wife is expected to do and how it is a clear-cut double standard life she is expected to lead. A life, where all she does is sacrifices and gives, and realizes that she would like a wife too.
Brady's article, although has a sardonic tone, is a very convincing one. Sarcasm is not the typical strategy to convince someone, unless it is frighteningly true. Her rhetorical approach is to narrate as though she is proposing a scenario, like a vacation advertisement, of what it is like to have a wife. She appeals to mothers/wives with pathos when she brings up an endless list of tasks they are expected complete. To everyone else, Brady writes in respect to logos. She questions why one wouldn't want a wife, or essentially, an indentured servant.
The problem is that what she describes is the epitome of the perfect American wife/mother. Very rarely does one mom fit into all of these descriptions. Though, with a resounding agreement, my roommates and my own mother play most of these roles. One of my roommates, who identifies the closest to a Nuclear Family, said Brady's description was eerily familiar to her own description of her mother. Also, there's nowhere in the essay that mentions the rewards of being a mother. The fallacy in her logic is that she assumes mothers and wives do all of this without any benefits, but women would not do it if they did not find it rewarding to be a "good" mother/wife.
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4 comments:
I really really enjoyed reading this article. The humor made me laugh and I think the logos was clear and sarcastic because she lists all the things she would want in a wife, when she is indeed one. I think this also uses pathos because the audience(who I'm assuming are all moms) probably all feel the same way. The writer's ethos also works very well since she is indeed a wife herself, which gives more credibility.
This article, while funny, is insulting to men. Though I suppose that is the point. I'll pick just one of many paragraphs to dispute.
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.
This assumes that after a divorce men do not want the children and want to be left free. Also that the man doesn't have any responsibility to the kids after the divorce. This is insulting because it honestly questions all men's ability to love and desire to take care of their children.
I would have to agree with the first comment below. Though the article is quite humorous, I also feel that it is sexist at times and even displays men in a negative way. The paragraph about how men can just leave their wives whenever they want just because they are bored or feel another woman is more suitable. Sure, this does happen, but this argument is very one-sided and doesn't show an example of many of the men out their that are kind-hearted and don't participate in this activity. This was very insulting to me that someone could think men would just pack up and leave their children with their wives and just move on with another woman.
I'm glad two guys commented on this. I want for everyone in the universe to know that I think men have the capability to love their children. I do not think many men enjoy leaving their children. However, I cannot deny that men are more likely to leave their children. I think it is different when a person actually gives birth to another being, and it is much harder to relate when that baby did not grow for almost a year inside of you. Now, I know I sound like a touchy, feely girl, but the US census reported in 2004 that 2,260 fathers were single parents and 10,142 mothers acted as the single parent. These statistics can be found at http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabFM-2.pdf. That means about 9 out of 50 men stepped into the role of both parents. I don't doubt that men have the ability to love their children, it's evident many will actually step up.
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