Murray's Arguments To Neglect Their Domestic Employments

Language: In On the Equality of the Sexes, there are a few phrases that seem to show some importance. “There is something new under the sun” is italicized in the text. She is saying that there is going to be some change coming soon with women’s education. She also uses the word superior, or superiority, quite a bit in the text. She questions whether or not mental superiority between sexes actually exists. She also talks about imagination a lot. She makes the point that society constricts how women use their imaginations. The way she uses domestication in the text is in a negative way. She uses the phrase “fertile brain of a female” and by doing this she is trying to show that females’ brains are productive and capable of becoming so much

Furthermore, She provides a strong tone that evaluates the potential of a woman. She presents her speech with facts and with confidence and passion. Her tone is trying to motivate young women to act up and take action. Along the way in her speech she makes up a sarcastic tone by claiming that “[women]do not have executive ability, orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional”(Chisholm, 149). The use of this tone provides affirmation that conveys young women to feel capable of doing anything that men can do. These words don’t define the potential of women nor their abilities. Women are strong, women can take anything, women are smart, women have leadership. Just like Chisholm, women have a voice to speak up and advocate for a change. Throughout her positives tones, she also presents an emotional appeal to the youth who are going to college and are struggling. In reality, some women don’t get the same opportunity as others.“...when a young woman graduates from college…she is likely to have a frustrating and demanding experience ahead of her”(Chisholm, 149). Women face challenges with their eligibility when applying to jobs. Looking for a job is not as easy for women, it takes time and persistence. Unlike men, who are seen as

Judith Sargent Murray was a revolutionary woman- born into a socially prominent and wealthy family during the start of the American Revolution, Murray was recognized for her intellect at a young age and given an education along with her brother. Later in life, she had her written works widely published and read during a time when women’s voices were seen as fundamentally inferior to those of men. In one of her most influential and strongly opinionated works, ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’, Murray makes a strong case for the spiritual and intellectual equality of men and women, arguing that women and men are born equal, but that men are simply given more education and

In early America, women were expected to take care of the household and of the children. However, writers such as Anne Bradstreet and Judith Sargent Murray wanted to emphasize the importance of education for women. The two texts by these authors that will be discussed are the poem, “The Prologue” by Anne Bradstreet and the essay, “Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Contemplacency, especially in Female Bosoms,” By Judith Sargent Murray. A theme seen prominently throughout both texts is fairer treatment of women through education. Although both women do believe in opportunity for women in education, Bradstreet focuses more on the idea that women should have more acceptance in the intellectual world by men while Murray however, emphasizes the importance of women to be raised properly which resulted in them understanding their self-worth.

Then, she wrote the essay “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” in order to talk about women and those elements that were ignored: race, sexuality, class, and age. By a patriarchal world, women need a freedom, which allows them to be by active, not in order to be used by passive. White feminists have educated themselves in the past many years, and then how about women of color? As women, there are no differences, so those who are differences need to learn how to stand alone in order to seek a world in which we can all flourish. “It is learning how to take our differences and make them strength(112).” However, is the feminist education only by women could change the situation of the patriarchal

And they can be equals if they believe they are. The basis of this essay is that knowledge is the solution to possessing value. In On the Equality of the Sexes, she believes women to be slandered in society, and they are only known to be inferior to men simply because men have an unjust difference in education. She declares that an educated woman would only increase her domestic skills and rational thoughts. In Observations on Female Abilities, she amasses an enormous amount of concrete detail to prove the general points she made earlier. Murray was clearly optimistic about the prospects of American women in 1798, imagining that a new era of gender equality was dawning in this "younger world." Yet again, as in her other essays on women's issues, Murray argues that women are rational beings, capable of exhibiting the traits associated with Republican citizenship. Once again she maintains that educated women make the most virtuous mothers and wives. At the same time, she continues to insist that women can be brave, strong, and heroic as well as modest, religious, and chaste.

“Look at us! We’re just like everyone else. We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion; this idea that you have to settle down and resign from life.” (April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road). It has become a society norm that women are meant to serve housewives; to cook, clean, garden, and nurture children, even though they are much more capable of other things. The role of women is greatly overseen, as they are not perceived to be of their full potential, rather than as societies idealistic expectation. This is because men and those who are wealthy are unable to look past gender and accept women as of equal significance.

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.

Judith Sargent Murray wrote an essay, in 1790, that would ask a question, and eventually, start an argument over the intellectual and spiritual equality of men and women. Murray asked, “Is it upon mature consideration we adopt the idea, that nature is thus partial in her distributions?” Though she was advocating for the equal rights of women, when she was writing the essay, this question can be applied to all human beings. Are there human beings who are naturally superior to others, whether it be physically, intellectually or spiritually? The thought that there are a select few individuals who are superior to others has been a driving force in American History. One example being the enslavement of African Americans. Their enslavement was essentially based on the thought that nature was partial in her distributions and that African Americans were inferior to white men, and therefore it was acceptable to treat them as property. During this time in history, the debate over slavery was a heated one, with the majority of the population having considerably extreme opinions on the issue. Many people spoke out about the immorality and inhumanity of slavery, but none had a more convincing argument, for the abolition of slavery than Frederick Douglass.

In July of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed with the idea that all men were created equal. However, “all men” seemed to only to apply to white males, since women were not granted many of the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence. In response, Judith Sargent Murray and Abigail Adams demanded equality through their writings, On the Equality of the Sexes and the 1776 correspondence between Abigail and John Adams. Through their writings, Murray and Adams argue for access to the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence by using their prior education and Enlightenment ideologies in their favor.

In On the Equality of the Sexes Murray counteracts these sexist ideas and demands educational opportunities for women. Murray receives an education that was uncommon for a women of

In her next chapter, Kerber examines the newfound need for the educating of women. Women were not allowed freedom or a political opinion, but they could not be completely pushed aside. For years women had been taught that education made them undesirable to men and educated women were scorned. Kerber argues that a new need for

“The wretchedness of an empty brain is perhaps as hard to bear as an empty purse, and a heart without hope is as cheerless as a fireless grate” (Cobbe 80). Women are expected to be a teacher for their children and educate them

After stating these points she continues on to discuss the importance of women having the same opportunities as men. One of the first opportunities being the choice to pursue the education she desires and not one that be designated to her, “The education that will fit her to discharge the duties in the largest sphere of human usefulness, will best fit her for whatever special work she may be compelled to do.” She states that, “The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her

In “On the Equality of the Sexes,” Murray begins by arguing that the inventiveness of women is more than proof of their intellectual capacity, stating “Invention is perhaps the most arduous effort of the mind; this branch of imagination hath been particularly ceded to us, and we have been time out of mind invested with that creative faculty” (132-133). She goes on to give various examples, such as “the variety of fashions… [and] how continually are they