FREE ESSAY ON LETTER TO THE EDITOR

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: 
I am writing to you in response to the essay that appeared in the first issue of Ms in
1971 entitled "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady. I believe that the author of this essay does
exaggerate the position a wife holds in the home, but not too greatly. This was written
in 1971, when I'm sure a wife's position was much more subservient than it is today. But
a lot of the claims she makes still hold true in today's society. A wife to Mrs. Brady is
someone who does basically everything, or in her words "takes care of a wife's duties"
and doesn't complain about it. This indicates to me that when a woman gets married and
becomes a wife she takes on a whole new responsibility in her life. Which I do believe is
true, but I believe it is the woman's choice on what those duties are. 
This essay makes being a wife sound more like a prison sentence or being a slave, and who
wouldn't want someone to take care of their every need so perfectly that you don't even
realize they are doing it. Someone that doesn't complain about catering to your every
need would be even better, but let's face it; even a woman couldn't do that perfectly.
Which is why this is a dramatization of what a woman's role in a marriage is. 
She states, "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." This is
something that women seem to automatically do. I do not know of any couples where the
husband is the one that keeps track of appointments of this sort or that arranges for the
children's care if both of the parents are working. Mrs. Brady makes the assumption that
this is just one of a wife's "duties" but maybe it is just because women have a better
sense of organization. 
"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 statement says to me that woman are like a piece of
furniture, that if it gets too raggedy you can just replace it with a brand new one and
not have to worry about the old one. This is just entirely not accurate. Even if a man
decides he wants a divorce and a new wife. They are never left free of the ties to his
old family, unless he just abandons them. Not even the average man could be so callous as
to just forget his other life and move on without any consideration of his family. 
Reading this essay it's hard not to want a wife. And I do believe there are men out there
today that would have no problem staying at home with the children and taking care of the
household duties. And I know there are women out there who would have no problem doing
the same. I know this for a fact because I am one of them. I want to be responsible for
taking care of my children because I think I would do a better job than most men. In the
essay the author never once refers to the children as her own children, she always
addresses them and everything as his. I personally want to be that wife that does
everything that needs to be done, because I do not feel that I will every find a man who
could take care of everything that a wife does properly. There are some men that cook, or
clean, or take care of the children. But I have not seen one example in my life of a man
who does everything, but there are plenty of examples of women who do everything. My
mother to this day still and for the last 32 years, takes care of everything in her
household and works as well. I see the term wife in this essay to be a generalization and
not necessarily a woman. Today it could be a man, but I have yet to witness a man that
perfect. 
Bibliography
This is a letter to the editor in response to an essay in a magazine.