Compare And Contrast Wollstonecraft And Marxism

Whilst not literally true, the symbolic language which Wollstonecraft uses, forces the reader to understand the man/woman relationship as purely hierarchical; man has dominion over his wife, his mother and daughter, perhaps even other women. Wollstonecraft likens the woman as property where “all are aiming to procure respect on account of their property: and property, once gained, will procure the respect due only to talents and virtue” . Such a relationship must seem harsh to the modern reader. However, Wollstonecraft’s dichotomy of husband to wife with owner to slave is nothing further than the application of household duty. Controversially, Wollstonecraft believes “True happiness, I mean all the contentment, and virtuous satisfaction that can be snatched in this imperfect state, must arise from well regulated affections; and an affection includes a duty” , referring to the mothering role of the wife, as the father looks on to appreciate his child being nursed. This duty it seems, are the chains that render women

Both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft agree that in society women and men are not equals. Rousseau’s idea that socialization brings inequality in his Discourse On the Origin of Inequality is manipulated by Wollstonecraft in her A Vindication of the Rights of Women. She uses his arguments to prove that the inequality between men and women is not natural, but it comes from Rousseau’s idea of socialized inequality. The inequality experienced by women is a product of society, which Wollstonecraft tries to prove by uses Rousseau’s arguments about language and dependency.

Unlike the men, Mary Wollstonecraft agreed that individual freedom was very important to society, but that it also lead to more desirable equality for woman. “Women must be allowed to find their virtue on knowledge, which is scarcely possible unless women be educated by the same pursuits as men” (Doc D). Wollstonecraft believed the primary source was to educate woman the same as men. If a woman were educated the same as men the woman would have a greater value to society.

During the 19th century, Europe underwent political and economic change resulting in a shift from craft production to factory work. This was a time known as the Industrial Revolution, in which class division and wage labor were the most foregrounded aspects of society (Poynton). Karl Marx’s theories during this time gave way to new perspectives and different ways of viewing oneself in class positions. Comparisons between social and political structures in the 19th century and the 21st century expose the similarities that have yet to be modified. Marxist theory proved to offer a framework for society to undergo evolutionary change that would put an end to the capitalist mode of production that developed during the Industrial Revolution in Europe (Connelley). Marxism greatly outlines the struggle between different classes and groups belonging to the political world and how this class struggle affects the means of production. Broadly speaking, capitalism is a structure of political inequality and once overcome will lead to communism, inevitably weakening the boundary between classes. Although beneficial for the workers who want to live as free men, the upper class will be placed on that same wavelength. The greater political structure will form into a realm that will abolish the exploitation and oppression of workers, thus placing power in the hands of those who do not benefit from the unequal distribution of wealth. It involves a combination of political and economic factors

Mary Wollstonecraft, an American writer and advocate for women’s rights from the late 1700s, was born into a world much different from modern Western society. As Wollstonecraft explains in her passage, “Of Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society,” eighteenth-century America granted women with hardly the same amount of privilege, opportunity, and education as it granted men. Wollstonecraft also explains how wealth often corrupts both women and men. Since Wollstonecraft’s time, women’s struggles have yielded victories that have led to advancements toward a more equal society, although inequality and corruption among the wealthy still remains to this day.

Neither Mary Wollstonecraft nor Karl Marx were content with the society in which they were living in during their time, and they both had different ideas and how to change it. They both agreed that our species is unique in that all humans have the ability and potential to control their lives and make what they want out of it. They have the ability to feel good about themselves and have a sense of self-fulfillment. However, each of these philosophers had a different opinion in mind on which obstacle was preventing humans from making full use of their potential to succeed and be happy. Wollstonecraft, in particular, was referring to how women do not get the same opportunities as men due to the fact that they are not looked at as equal to men. This was due to a few reasons. Men were being biased towards females, they could not get a good education, and most women themselves did not see a need to change. Wollstonecraft felt that the way to combat all this was to start allowing women to get the same education as men do, which would also allow them to be independent. Only then will they realize that women are just as intelligent and rational as men themselves are. Marx, on the other hand,

In terms of sexual morality, Mary Wollstonecraft believes that men and women are both equal in creation. Mary Wollstonecraft believes this because she follows some of the same views of john locke; that females are essentially robbed of their rights and their soul. Therefore, Mary Wollstonecraft is addressing her concern for the sexual

Wollstonecraft, outlines the issues faced with motherhood. Many women are expected to have children as this is a part of who they are (Ford, 2009). Wollstonecraft outlines the need for women in society to not conform and to try to teach their children equality, and not to please men, and she states that in society many “parents are the educators forced young girls into a precocious desire to please men at the expense of developing their intellects and capacity for virtue” (Field, 2011). This quote expresses Wollstonecraft’s need for women to not conform to society ideals, and as parents, they should try and teach their children that they do not need to please men, as they “must be taught to respect themselves as rational creatures” (Field,

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.

Wollstonecraft compares woman to slaves on several occasions in “A Vindication of the Rights of Women.” She emphasized that women did not have human rights and were not even looked upon as human. One first reads this comparison when she describes how women listened to sweet phrases, “which the men condescendingly use to soften our slavish dependence” (Wollstonecraft 1506). Stressing that women were only taught to be desirable wives at all cost and cater to whatever their husband’s wished of them. The only way woman could rise in society was through marriage, which she states that “this desire making mere animals of them” (Wollstonecraft 1507). It is obvious that she felt that women had no real rights except to be mothers and wives. In regards

Women have experienced a similar degrading to that of the laborers and capitalists. Metaphorically, the women are the laborers and the men are the capitalists. They look down upon women. Wollstonecraft (2004, 12) states “it is observable that the female in point of strength is, in general, inferior to the male” but “men endeavor to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment.” Wollstonecraft understands the physical difference between men and women. Wollstonecraft (2004, 16) rebuttals when she says, “some women govern their husbands without degrading themselves, because intellect will always govern”. A person who is intellectually gifted should not be looked down upon. A physical appearance does not mean inferiority. A person is a body that is being inhabited by a soul and a soul is believed to be genderless. But women did not have a say in government or could not pursue professional careers. Just like the laborers with the capitalists, women are being

As one of the earliest feminist writers, Mary Wollstonecraft faced a daunting audience of critics ready to dispel her cry for the rights of women. Her powerful argument calling for equality in a society dominated by men was strong, and her ideas withstood a lot of criticism to become one of the most important feminist texts. Her argument was simple and illustrates a solution to the inequality in society. The foundation of this argument is the idea of education and how independent thought is necessary to live a virtuous and moral life. In the present state of society, women are seen as inferior to men and held in a state of ignorance. The worst effect of this

Economic inequality has been a long-debated issue within the social sciences. The origin of the most recent debate has roots in Karl Marx’s works during the 19th century. Since Marx, the equality of distribution has become a heated topic in a wide range of social science from economic to social and political. Marx saw the growing inequality and poor working conditions in the beginning of the 19th century as a never-ending process of infinite accumulation of capital. This literature subsided due to the improvement of working conditions

Due to their lack of educational opportunities during the Victorian era, women were more educated in domesticity, while men were taught in various subjects. Wollstonecraft describes the education that women receive to be “a disorderly kind of education” (161). If women were given equal educational opportunities as men, then it would allow them to become more empowered. Wollstonecraft states, “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience…” (163). Meaning that by providing women with a educational equivalent to men, then it would put an end to women having to be reliant on men and be able to independent. Therefore, women will not have to feel inferior to their male counterparts. She encourages women to become more empowered and challenge the gender constructs of society.

“The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state; for, like the flowers which are planted in too rich a soil, strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty; and the flaunting leaves, after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade, disregarded on the stalk, long before the season when they ought to have arrived at maturity” (Wollstonecraft 7). This is a view in which several feminists abide with and can relate to; the idea that women have the wrong intentions and goals for their lives, that they are treated like children and are predestined to act like children, instead of adults. Although the Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft was written in 1972, this