Tong And Williams Feminism

Mary Wollstonecraft contributed the best to the United States democracy because she was one of the first women to be a strong activist for women’s rights. She believed that all men- and women are created equal and therefore should have equal rights. She expresses women are looked at as “weaker” to men because they are not given the same opportunities as men, such as education. But, she also wrote several books like A Vindication of the Rights of Women, still looked at today as a strong women rights book. Mary Wollstonecraft believed that not just men and women-

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” Today there are millions of feminists, compared to the 1900's, where feminism was very seldom. During the early 1900’s, slavery and the domestication of women (no matter what race they were), was very common. Beginning in

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.

Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.

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.

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

Feminism is the advocacy of the rights of women based on the theory of equality of the sexes (Oxford English Dictionary). It is built on the principle that women have innate worth, inalienable rights, and valuable ideas and talents to contribute to society. Feminists fight for equality in every dimension of society, for both equal rights with men and equal respect.

Mary Wollstonecraft is best known as the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women published in 1792. She is arguing against those who justify the suppression of women on the grounds that women are less rational and more impulsive and emotional than men. Wollstonecraft argues that all human beings, regardless of sex, are born as rational beings, and therefore have equal capabilities for rational thinking and acting. Wollstonecraft is a religious thinker and believes that God has created all humans with reason. To develop and cultivate one’s reason is therefore a duty everyone has to God.

“It follows then, I think, that from their infancy women should either be shut up like eastern princes, or educated in such a manner as to be able to think and act for themselves” (Wollstonecraft, Pg 114). Wollstonecraft believes the defense to gender inequality would be the education of girls and women. Either girls will be educated, or they will not be; she sees no other way around it. This led her to draft a public education system as an effective solution to the issue of gender inequality. She feels this would best be done if equal education, funded by public tax funds, were provided to all children of all genders and of all social classes. This argument was carefully detailed, thorough and persuading. However, in attempts to support her argument, Wollstonecraft makes the point that “if children are educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be patriot” (Wollstonecraft, Pg. 66) seeing as though their mothers would be their primary caregivers. What she intends for this to mean is that women should be educated in order to educate her children. This statement and idea weakens her argument and slightly discredits her as a “feminist.” A feminist who has the best interest of a woman in mind would not have to substantiate her point by proving it would benefit others. A woman’s right to education shouldn’t

Mary Wollstonecraft’s, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, seems to have been written as her liberal philosophical way to advocate on behalf of women’s rights regarding their political, social, and economical equality to men, with a focus on the education of women and their independence. It seems that Wollstonecraft would overstate certain issues or repeated herself constantly as a way to get her point across on the issues that she felt most passionate about. In paragraph #3, Wollstonecraft, gave a Godly based example by showing that the evils of that current time frame would result in a positive effect in the future by people pulling together to simply do what it took to overcome the current struggles of that era in a positive way. This would than result in knowledge through virtue. “There is a homely proverb, which speaks a shrewd truth, that whoever the devil finds idle he will employ.

Mary Wollstonecraft, who was born during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century, is one of the most prominent feminists in women’s history. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman led her to become one of the first feminists, advocating for the rights of women. Born in a time where women’s education was neither prominent nor important, Wollstonecraft was raised with very little education. However, events in her life influenced her to begin writing, such as the way her father, Edward John Wollstonecraft treated her mother, “into a state of wearied servitude” (Kries,Steven)1. In 1792, she published Vindication on the Rights of Woman, which is one of the most prominent feminist pieces to date. This book is considered a reply to

What is feminism? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary the standard definition defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” I believe the word feminism means a woman who is capable of doing the exact things a man can do. Both men and women are equal regardless the gender. There are many misconceptions when it comes to the word feminism such as, women having hatred towards men, women thinking they're above men, or only women can be feminist, and the gender stereotype. On the other hand, feminism is gender equality, acknowledging that any kind of violence is unacceptable regardless the gender, and realizing that women and men are not the same and recognizing that gender and sex are

For the record, feminism by definition is: ‘the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.’ It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. (Watson 1)

Feminism is the belief that women should have economic political and social equality with men. This term also refers to a political movement that works to gain equality within a male and female relationship. In a male and female relationship both the roles of the male and female should be equal. Equal in many ways ten one: they should trust each other, share responsibilities, listen to one another, respect each other, and of course love one another equally.

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