Marriage is a commitment- a decision to do, all
through life, that which will express your love for one's spouse." -Herman
H. Kieval This is the true meaning of marriage and this is probably the meaning
that most people assumed the essay Why I
want a Wife would discuss. After reading the essay many minds came to the supposition
that the essay suggest that marriage is a defunct institution. Honestly I would
have to diverge with that conclusion due to the fact that the essay was written
during the 1970’s which happens to be the same time the second wave of the
feminist movement struck America. Meaning that the essay was written not to
attack marriage but to explain how women were stereotyped during the time.
During the 18th
and 19th century is when the 3 waves of the feminist movement occurred.
The first wave was about political equality and suffrage, the second wave was
to improve social and cultural inequalities while the third fought for women to
have a greater political influence. During these times women endured a great
deal of inequality. They were over powered by men and looked down upon. They had
very little rights and had to fight for the ones they have currently. Why wouldn’t
you want an essay to be written to expose these conditions in hope to improve
them?
The essay highlights many of the stereotypes women
faced then and now. It talks about how women were expected to stop their whole
life for a man and work like a slave to please him. This is not how a marriage
should be there isn’t any equality or love in the one Brady discusses. Many
argue she wrote it that way because that’s her opinion on marriage, but they tend to forget that it was wrote during a
time where that is the type of environment she was exposed to so if that is the
case she didn’t have any other choice but to think this way. People are missing
the whole point of the essay thinking that way though, because the essay is
meant to inform you about the inequalities that took place during that time,
not to just bad mouth marriage and down men.
I agree with Brady’s
writing and I understand how she felt when she wrote it, because still to this
day women aren’t completely free from the stereotypes they faced during the feminist
movement, they are still expected to play the role of a slave with the title
housewife. Men still expect women to bow down to them and respond to their
every order just as it is stated. They want women to have no identity and to be
a slave and a caretaker, while they live by double standards and do as they
please.
Brady’s essay was an informative essay about how
women were treated during the feminist movement. Everything she wrote is true
about the stereotypes women have shackled to them and since still to this day there
are cultures where women are not treated equally, there should be more essays
like Brady’s so people will know about the struggle and hopefully try to help
better it .If people continue to simple mindedly analyze text like this one
they will never see the true problem at hand and will never have a chance to be
part of the solution.