SAMPLE RESPONSE LETTER
Note: This letter deals with only one reading, but should give you an idea as to appropriate content.
Gladys,
When I first read the excerpt from Judy Brady’s “I Want a Wife,” I thought that her tone was overly sarcastic. The book editors underlined her repetitions of the words “I want” in their annotations (18). I think these repetitions make her sound whiny. I guess she’s trying to create the impression that men who “want” these things are like whiny kids. But for me, it just makes HER sound whiny. After all, hasn’t the world had enough of whining feminists? I pictured her as an unhappy housewife, but if she’s so unhappy, why doesn’t she do something about it? I doubt that her husband stands over her with a whip and makes her do the laundry. Her tone definitely turned my sympathy against her.
Once I got over Brady’s tone, I started comparing her experience to my mom’s and other women’s. Then I had to admit that all the moms I know take care of all the chores she mentioned in her article. I don’t know why they do it, they just do. I can hear my Dad’s voice right now, yelling down the stairs, “Sarah, don’t I have any clean underwear?” So maybe Brady has a legitimate point, but why does it always tend to end up this way? Brady doesn’t seem interested in answering this question, only in describing the problem. I would definitely say that her point was that wives still do too much of the “dirty work” around the house.
One more part of Brady’s essay that I didn’t like is the way it assumes that all wives are in the same boat. Even though I just admitted that I know a lot of moms like her, I’d like to think that it doesn’t have to be this way. Do you know anyone who has escaped this role?
Discussion question: How did Judy Brady’s sarcastic tone influence your reading of the excerpt?
Carol Hayes, English 101-14