A Vindication Of The Rights Of Men

Wollstonecraft’s use of nonfiction prose for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman sets her apart

Wollstonecraft transcended the notion that she is simply expressing grievances over the unjust treatment of women establishing herself as an articulate, intellectual thinker with innovative ideas and solutions for progressing society. Through voicing her opinions, Wollstonecraft created a small revolution for women’s rights that would encourage others to begin seeking equal treatment from the men of society.

The eighteenth century brought about a great deal of change and a new-found interest in science and reason. Because of this, many great inventions, ideas and innovative theorists arose from this time period. Among them was a forward-thinking essayist by the name of Mary Wollstonecraft. In her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft preaches her belief that the oppression of women is largely due to lack of female education. Although the term "feminism" wasn’t coined until decades later, Wollstonecraft paved the way for future women’s rights movements by advocating equality in education for women. She believed men and women should be equal in the very basic aspects of life, such as in loyalty in marriage. Wollstonecraft

She was a mother, a moral and political philosopher, a writer, and a feminist. Mary Wollstonecraft was the ideal image of what represented the push towards modern feminism. Some may even consider her as the founding mother of modern feminism itself. Much of Wollstonecraft’s literature is influenced by her own life experiences. In 1785, Wollstonecraft took on an employment opportunity as a governess. While spending most of her time there, she had a moment of epiphany where she realized that she was not suited for domestic work. Soon after, she returned to London and became a translator and wrote for a well-known publisher and discovered her love of writing. Eventually, years later she was then able to publish her most notable work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still a very popular book which can be seen as a guide to becoming a better citizen and understanding feminism in a critical context. This essay will argue that Mary Wollstonecraft is still relevant to the feminist cause today as her views portrayed in her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman are still relatable to many of the feminist issues that currently exist around the world. This essay will do so by comparing how her views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman can still be used as guiding principles to tackle feminist matters.

Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Jacobs’ Incidents In the Life of a

Everyone should be treated as equals. However, in Mary Wollstonecraft’s era, women did not have the same equal rights as men. It was a time period of sexism and double standards. In her work Vindication of the Rights of Women, she argues and defends for the equality of women. Wollstonecraft believed that everyone has the ability to reason and learn; therefore women should be able to receive the same amount of necessities involving proper education, support, attitude, respect, etc., that are needed in order to accomplish goals as any other person, in this case, men. As of today in the 21st century, Wollstonecraft would be disappointed due to the amount of disrespect society contributes on women, as well as some women who have no respect for their own self-worth. In order to improve, changes must start from within.

Inequality is a plague we’ve attempted to cure for centuries with some success only to come to the realization that another problem has risen. Mary Wollstonecraft, a social and political activist for women’s rights, addressed a letter to a former bishop to present a case of equality in relation to France’s government and societal restrictions imposed on women. As a sequel to her previous piece, “A Vindication of The rights of Women”, Wollstonecraft took the liberty to propose multiple reasons as to why women’s rights are essential to the well-being of not only men, but also as necessary for society to function properly. She uses her own independence as a basis of her argument without concerning herself to much by mostly discussing others possible advantages derived from allowing women to be educated. Wollstonecraft’s purpose was to convince those who considered educating women unnecessary by setting examples that affect men negatively; comparatively our society has either carried these methods or created new ones to deal with inequality.

In Wollstonecraft’s work, she addresses the differences between men and women as being something that should be considered negligible, but instead is used to practically enslave one half of the population. The work details how women are akin to playthings when they lack an education, and that for her to truly be herself and practice her own free will, she must be knowledgeable. However, there are many different kinds of education, Wollstonecraft points out. Men received a formal education, consisting of a proper teaching of many subjects, while also aiding the young men in personal growth. Women, on the other hand, received a much less formal education. In their day to day lives, women observed, they leeched off

In "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", Mary Wollstonecraft uses both her experience and observations as a rhetorical device in an attempt to educate women about the necessity of having both a strong mind and body. Throughout "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", Wollstonecraft emphasizes the importance of these virtues by responding to other author’s ideas on the subject and using their words as evidence of how the patriarchal society views women and their ‘roles’ as citizens of society. Wollstonecraft, in her pragmatic treatise, critiques women and their behavior in an attempt to affect change in how women are perceived and in how women perceive themselves.

To start, Wollstonecraft’s argument is the most compelling in my opinion as it was written during a time of great social change, a time shortly after America declared its independence and was just beginning to take form. Conversely, just like the British had done to the American colonies, men questioned and denied the rights and capacities of women, an issue

Both women embarked on a search for equality. But, discrimination against Truth’s race deprives her of chivalry in the first place, isolating her experience from Wollstonecraft’s writing. Through her impassioned tone, Truth comments on the separation between the women’s rights movement when it involves white women versus black women, she argues the movement as Wollstonecraft recognises it as a fight against that which she already does not have the privilege to receive. Because, as a well-off white woman, Wollstonecraft reaps the respect and social status that follows her race and economic status, whereas Truth does not receive the same respect. She explicates: “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?” (Truth) The context of her statements represents similar content to Wollstonecraft's argument against chivalry, because she declares her rights as a human being to cement her own identity. Wollstonecraft’s critique against chivalry reveals the divide between the two women because it serves as a key construct for the definition of a woman in Wollstonecraft world, yet Truth never had the luxury to experience these social constructs, stemming from discrimination against her race. Where Wollstonecraft fights against the fact society forces her into chivalry, Truth fights against the fact she never obtained it. She must fight to define herself as a woman in a different manner: as worth the same dignity in her experience as

“Will Mr. Burkes be at the trouble to inform us, how far we are to go back to discover the rights of men, since the light of reason is such a fallacious guide that none but fools trust to its cold investigation?” Wollstonecraft is being sarcastic. She is asking how far in history will we have to go through to find what the rights of men are since we can’t use the simpler option which would be to use reason to understand our God given rights.

After reading from the excerpts of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman I have concluded that the situations of women, as far as rights are concerned, have indeed improved vastly. However, even though their situation has been amended and they are now afforded the same equal rights as men, not all women take advantage of these rights. A fraction of women still care more about their own physical beauty, appearance, and the prospect of finding a husband than anything else. Furthermore even, some of the more juvenile women will even occasionally go so far as to play dumb, thinking to attract the affection of men; while others get so self-obsessed with their appearance that they don’t even have to act in order to be received as dim witted or

Firstly, Wollstonecraft argues that women lack the worthy object that “sufficient serious employment” (The Rights of Men and The Rights of Woman, 194) furnishes. Accordingly, the premise of Vindication, suggests the duties of the female, are influenced by

Wollstonecraft is not advocating for physical equality because in terms of nature, men are built in a more superior manner. However, one’s mind was not built to be superior or inferior depending on one’s sex. Wollstonecraft states that men have caused women’s minds to be, “rendered weak and wretched” due to the stereotypes that became embedded in minds and cultures for hundreds of years.