Sarcastic Feminism: A Lexico-Syntactic Analysis of Judy Syfers’ I Want A Wife

Abstract

This work examines the relationship between language and the plights of women as espoused by Judy Syfers in her text “I Want a Wife”. It seeks to establish the concerns of the writer and the choices she made in her agitation and struggle for women liberation. To achieve this, Feminist CDA approach was adopted in order to critically identify the implications of the writer’s lexical items within the context of her language. This would enable us demystify her language and see how gender power is constructed; see where women are placed on the ladder of power and the effort the writer makes to ameliorate the social status of women. Thus, attention was given to lexis and syntax (noun phrase). This helped us to find out that the context in which the writer agitates for women liberation is within the family and its attendant responsibilities. It was discovered through the examination of syntax of the language that the use of sarcasm and rankshifting were paramount. Through rankshifting, the writer presented the enormity of women’s plights, and condemns such man-made, imposed and killing plights using sarcasm.