Hope talked about the resentment that accumulated in the relationship over time. She also discusses the effect and changes in her life when they had children and the way there marriage was effected by this. She also explains how the relationship worked out and how they both overcame obstacles that were in their way and how co-parenting worked from her point of view. The issues she discussed about co-parenting and her marriage were about lack of time spent together, each having “equal division of labor” and entering a marriage with a false belief of it being perfect. She also brings up throughout the writing how she and her friends discussed entering a relationship or marriage with belief of co-parenting was attainable.
The speaker feels that men do not appreciate this work. By repeating “I want a wife” in almost every sentence, the author clarifies the many things a man expects and how ridiculous and overwhelming the amount wanted is. Even though she herself is a wife, she says she wants a wife to do all of these chores for her (274). Brady repeats “I want a wife who will…” to identify what a proper wife is supposed to do. Repetition enhances her sarcastic tone because after all that is expected of a wife, she says, “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife,” (276) in the final sentence, meaning even an actual wife would want someone to do as much as she does.
The controversial idea of domesticity and femininity is explored in the works of Pricilla Bracks and Susan O’Doherty, whom use a range of artistic mediums to express the stereotypical gender roles and social standard of females The theme of domesticity is recurrent in many of Susan O’Doherty’s works. Her series ‘The Perfect Women,’ explores the constraints of household jobs and objects. Her past experiences with domesticity lead her to creating such artworks. As a child O’Doherty witnessed firsthand her mother’s experiences with domestic isolation, as the sole provider for her children. As a mother now, O’Doherty can relate herself to such experiences.
The conflict theory is used to criticize society, rather than explain it. Humanity is seen to be organized into groups depending on their social status, or power. In “The Family Stone” when Everett brings his girlfriend Meredith home for the first time there is a clear imbalance between the powers of her as an individual verses that of the Stones. Before Meredith had even arrived at the house there was a certain impression of her based on the opinion of Everett’s sister, Amy, who openly expressed her dislike for Meredith. When she came into their home there was an obvious difference, she was very proper, anxious, and stressed.
These movements started to challenge the thinking of the society about the role and the lives of women in society. In a gradual process, the women's movements made the society starting viewing women as equals. Women also began to have increased freedoms in choosing their own husbands (Helgren & Collen, 2010). The wide availability of contraception also allowed women the right to decide on the extent of the family. Marriage started to be viewed as a union of two equal people seeking love, happiness and stability in the 19th century.
All throughout the 1970’s women are dealing with their lack of equality – may it be within the work area, politically, at home, or with laws. Sexism was very popular, and not uncommon, but these women are ‘at their ends’ with accepting it. The women of the decade begin to bond together – to fight for their rights as people. This will be known as the second-wave of feminism. They discover the power of sisterhood and begin to attract attention to their actions and when the Royal Commission of the Status of Woman steps in to make a report on the status of woman in Canada, laws begin to change, and debates on these new laws begin to occur.
Steinbeck uses Curley's wife's character to depict the inferiority of women. He also uses her to inform the reader of the dire range of choices for women of that era. Steinbeck creates the character of Curley's wife to show the reader that life as a house wife is dull and repetitive. He does that by making Curley's wife not fit into the expected mould of a married house wife. She is a lonely character constantly searching for attention, even if it is from ranch workers, cripples and the coloured.
Good wives were considered to cook, clean, take care of the children, and treat their husbands well. Such traits are still believed to be good to this day, but the problem is when these views get in the way of a woman’s goals to become something more than just a house-wife. Further, she goes to describe how degrading some of these comments are such as “I want a wife to pick up after me.” (180); “I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife’s duties.” (180). After reviewing just these few comments out of many I see that those statements are very degrading and narcissistic. This is no way to treat a woman that you are supposed to love; it sounds more like being a wife was more like being a slave in her viewpoint.
In Search Of Heritage In the story “Everyday Use” Alice Walker told the story from Mama’s point of view. The theme of this story is of a mother who is trying to cope with changing times and two daughters who are completely different. Having the story told from momma's point of view helps to reveal how momma feels about herself and how she defines her daughters Dee and Maggie. "Everyday Use" is told from momma's point of view which helps to reveal how she feels about herself. Momma feels that she is an uneducated person, she says "I never had an education myself," (157) this creates barriers between her and her daughter Dee who has a college education.
The point she was getting across to the reader was that wives are undervalued. This essay is humorous piece that also made a serious point: women who played the role of “wife” did many helpful things for husbands and, usually, children without anyone realizing. Still less did anyone acknowledge that these “wife’s tasks” could have been done by someone who wasn’t a wife, such as a man. The desired wife tasks included: * Work to support us so I can go back to school * Keep my house clean and pick up after me * See to it that my personal things are where I can find them when I need them * Take care of the babysitting arrangements * Be sensitive to my sexual needs * But do not demand attention when I am not in the mood * Do not bother me with complaints about a wife’s duties The essay fleshed out these duties and listed others. The point, of course, was that housewives were expected to do all these things, but no one ever expected a man to be capable of these tasks.