Reaction to "I Want a Wife" and "Marked Women, Unmarked Men" 12/18/2016

 
    The essay "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady and "Marked Women, Unmarked Men" by Deborah Tannen both analyze social norms concerning gender. In "I Want a Wife" Brady lists the various tasks that her ideal wife would have to complete while in "Marked Women, Unmarked Men" by Tannen discusses how women are labeled. Despite the fact that the essays were written at different times, they both still hold relevance today. The expectations for wives that Brady describes- cooking, cleaning, minding children, making sacrifices, are still ones that some men still have for their future wife. Also, Tannen broke down how women were judged based on appearance, from hair, to make up, to shoes. The authors both find ways to make readers ask themselves why these expectations or judgements were normal. Tannen does this with eye-opening facts, she states that women can have various titles , "Ms' or "Mrs" while men are simply "Mr". Judy Brady does the same with her seemingly ridiculous hypotheticals, she stated that she would want the right to easily replace her wife and children. Both essays provide interesting insight when addressing social norms involving gender.