Judy Brady wrote her essay, "I Want a Wife", to describe the "modern" woman of 1972 and what is expected of it. The question is though: does it hold up today? I believe that while some descriptions still apply, the argument falls apart by today's standards. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Brady's description of a woman describes her as a cleaning robot/counsellor/nanny/chef/sex doll. Basically, the wife is responsible for absolutely everything that happens at home. She clearly wanted to show the extremes a woman has to live with. Today, however, this is not necessarily true. In fact, it seems today that these extremes did not even exist during this century. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in her 1848 “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions,” explains this; "He never allowed her to exercise her inalienable right to elective suffrage. He forced her to submit to laws in the development of which she had no say. He denied her the rights that are granted to the most ignorant and degraded men, both native and foreign. After having deprived her of this first right of citizenship, the right to elective vote, thus leaving her without representation in legislative bodies. oppressed on all sides in the eyes of the law, civilly dead, he took away all property rights, even the salary she earns” (582). nature of a woman's being It is hard to believe that between the 128 years of the two essays, only the laws have changed in favor of women But in the thirty-eight years that have passed between the essay. of Brady and today it is much more acceptable in today's society. being a stay at home husband and having his wife work full time. In fact, the number of stay-at-home husbands has increased to three million in recent years, and the number of wives working full time has increased to fifty percent, up from forty percent in the early 1970s. My mother works full time for my father and takes care of two children (including me). On both fronts of employment, work is distributed equally, more or less. Women fought and won the place they occupy today in society. As a result, major changes have occurred in the way women have been treated over the past century. As society's view on gender is much more flexible than ever, it's not as easy to place a woman in the role of cleaning robot/advisor/nanny/chef/sex doll. Women have much more freedom to do what they want with their lives. They don't have to get married or stay at home. However, some characteristics have remained the same. As mentioned earlier, the number of stay-at-home husbands is as high as three million. But that's only one percent of the U.S. population. There are still more female nannies and cleaners than men, and women are still paid less overall for the same jobs as men. Again using my mother as an example, she and my sister are the only ones who really care about the cleanliness of the house. My father helps me when asked, but my position on the subject is that if it has a bed, a TV, a kitchen, a bathroom and a roof, it's habitable. There are still those who treat women disrespectfully. As I mentioned before, women are still paid less than men..