Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Essay example

The Vindication of the Rights of Woman postulates a revolutionary idea – certainly for the era in which it was published – that in the struggle for the rights and equality of man, one must also give such heed to the rights of women. Mary Wollstonecraft adheres to the fact that “the more specious slavery which chains the very soul of woman, keeping her forever under the bondage of ignorance” is the cornerstone of a system of female inequality during the eighteenth century. In this essay, I will focus on the statement:

Wollstonecraft seems to agree with Rousseau when she says, “that the female in point of strength is, in general, inferior to the male” (Wollstonecraft, 8). She does not say that all women are inferior in strength to men, nor does she conclude from this that women, being physically inferior, should be dependent on men. Yet, she twists the argument when she says, “in order to preserve their innocence, as ignorance is courteously termed, truth is hidden from them, and they are made to assume an artificial character before their faculties have acquired any strength” (44). This is near contradiction to her previous admission of women’s natural physical inferiority. Her use of the word “faculties” is ambiguous as to whether she means physical or mental faculties, so perhaps, she is arguing that physical inequality could be part of the oppression of women, instead of it all belonging to nature’s fault.

During the Age of Enlightenment in the late eighteenth century, Mary Wollstonecraft presented a radical essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, that shed light on the largest, underrepresented groups of the time, women. The essay voiced the inequalities women at the time faced and called upon Wollstonecraft’s audience to invoke a revolution for the rights of women. Through her writing, she presented a compelling argument that slowly allowed women to question their “place” in society and demand change to the British social order. While these changes did not happen quickly, her work sparked the feminist movements through its unique message and called upon women to demand equality through the Match Girls Strike and Women’s Suffrage

Mary Wollstonecraft’s famous book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, is “one of the earliest expressions of a feminist consciousness.” Wollstonecraft claims that women are upset mainly due to the fact that they are not receiving the education they deserve, and goes on to explain how women are notorious for being weak, and mentally unstable. She blames the education system for this since all the books are written by men, and they claim that women are barley humans and are treated as another species. She questions the eligibility of men to claim they are better than women. A useful education, in her opinion, is one that teaches students how to be strong and independent. Her directed audience is anyone who is unsure of the true definition and meaning of feminism. Wollstonecraft believes that all humans are capable of the same intelligence, no matter the gender. Her overall idea is that every individual, both male and female, deserve equality.

To Wollstonecraft, not educating females in the same manner as males is the greatest set back to women. Female education would help level the playing field between women

states, “I may be accused of arrogance; still I must declare firmly what I believe that all the writers who have written on the subject of female education and manners from Rousseau to Dr.Gregory have contributed to render women more artificial, weak characters than they would have other wise been; and consequently more useless members of society” (22). Wollstonecraft believed that men who advocated for the trivial education that women received, if they received any education at all, did not even adequately prepare them for the one role that they were allowed, that of a wife.

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.

Women in Wollstonecraft’s time were only valued for their attractiveness, were only useful for their role as a mother, and were not given the right to an education nor the right to jobs. Wollstonecraft observes that “when a women is admired for her beauty, she suffers herself to be...intoxicated by the admiration she receives as to neglect...the indispensable duty of a mother, she sins against herself by neglecting to cultivate an affection that would equally tend to make her useful and happy” (Wollstonecraft 6). In other words, women getting so wrapped up in presenting themselves as beautiful in order to meet society’s standards then completely neglect their natural role as a mother that would make them “useful” by society’s standards by fulfilling the only role they really could at the time: a mother. Instead of being praised for being a virtuous mother, women were valued solely for their sexual attractiveness. Once their beauty fades and they have already birthed and raised their children, as Wollstonecraft states, “let them not expect to be valued” (32). During Wollstonecraft’s time, a typical woman was “dependent on her husband’s bounty for her subsistence during his life or support after his death” (19). A woman did not have any other job than to be impregnated and raise her husband’s offspring, meaning she had to be financially dependent on her husband. Women could not “study the art of healing” nor “be physicians [or] nurses”—jobs Wollstonecraft argued “women might certainly study” given the opportunity

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.

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

Wollstonecraft’s problem with ‘women’ begins with the ambiguity of the term itself. According to her arguments women were socially constructed by an idealisation of their weaknesses and dismissal of their intelligence. She believed that women were “rendered weak and wretched” (1) by the varying social forces that kept them in a position of inferiority to men. Wollstonecraft argued that because their education has been so structured around the necessity of obtaining a husband, they form no basic reasoning skills and therefore their moral health suffers and they look to sublimate power through cunning and manipulation (41). While Wollstonecraft generally views the enactment of typical behavioural archetypes associated with women as an artificial

First, in the Vindication Of Women's rights, the author Mary Wollstonecraft mainly argued for equal rights in women's education. Wollstonecraft notes “ To pressure personal beauty, women glory; the limits and faculties are cramped with worse than Chinese bands, and the sedentary life

The day’s society, especially in the west is making a woman superior, but in other cultures women still inferior to men. Wollstonecraft in her introduction to A Vindication of the Rights

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

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.