No role offers a more revealing window into the evolution of female identity than that of a wife. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the scene is one of unprecedented confusion and contradiction. What does a woman mean when she calls herself wife today? And what do others expect of her? The Meaning of Wife analyses the complex nature of contemporary wifehood. Combining broad-ranging research with her own insights and wit, award-winning Canadian journalist and social commentator Anne Kingston provides a fresh perspective on the role and how it affects the perception of women. This book:* Explains the alternating currents of 'wifelash' and 'wifelust'* Introduces the concept of the 'wife gap' that emerged in the wake of the twentieth-century women's movement* Analyses the married woman's relationship to female power, sexuality and worth.