The reason why so many women who try hard fail to make their marriage successful Is because there a no such a thing as a “good wife” — one who would be a bargain for any man.
There isn’t. Whether or not a woman is a good wife depends on just one thing. Is she what her husband wants of a woman?
A woman can fill the theoretical “good wife” picture perfectly and still not make a go of her marriage.
She may be an excellent housekeeper, a good cook, a faithful wife, a sensible mother—and still not make the man she married happy.
Yet if she should lose her husband, she would say (and so would her woman friends) that she had been a good wife.
A working woman knows that there is no such thing as a “good secretary” — one who would, without changing herself or her tactics, fit the bill for any employer.
So each time she goes to a new Job she studies her boss and tries to do things his way.
Wives could very well take a tip from the secretary on that point. They would chuck their picture of a “good wife” out the window and start in to be whatever it is their husbands want and need.
If a man is ambitious, impatient to get ahead – a nice, sweet competent homemaker won’t be enough for him. He will expect his wife to have enough brains and studied charm to carry the family socially.
If he wants an easy-going life with time for friends and fun he’ll want her to be gay and companiable. Not one who will say, “No, we can’t go out to dinner tonight. I already have the potatoes on.”
The man who isn’t sure of himself socially needs more than anything a wife who can be counted on to say and do the right thing at the right time.
It’s up to every wife to draw her own picture of a perfect wife – and draw it from her husband’s preferences and needs.
From the Edwardsville Intelligencer. Edwardsville, Illinios. November 1, 1939.