Tong And Williams Feminism

According to dictionary.com, feminism is the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. Throughout history and even in present time, women have been subject to unequal treatment by their male counterparts. For example, in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is born from Adam’s rib, showing that Adam is the dominant figure in the narrative. Even today, there exists in certain professions a gender pay gap. Similarly, the way in which women are depicted in Beloved by Toni Morrison and the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson indicates that women are able to thrive independently and take on masculine roles, while men are able to experience feminine attributes.

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

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

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.

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-

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

“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

Wollstonecraft believes that there were many women who did not want equality or education because they think that they are powerful enough basically because they are beautiful. So, women think that by focusing on other interests like equality and education they will lose their power which is beauty. Wollstonecraft declares that men have contributed to this by complementing women over their manifestation rather than their intelligence. For instance, ‘’it is acknowledged that they spend many of the first years of their lives acquiring a smattering of accomplishments; meanwhile strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves…’’.

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.

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

Mary Wollstonecraft considered as a remarkable women activists and an English writer of 18th century. In her essay, she constantly compares men and women. Her comparisons range from their physical nature to their intelligence and even down to the education that each sex receives is commendable. Wollstonecraft said that, “In the government of the physical world it is observable that the female in point of strength is, in general, inferior to the male” (Wollstonecraft 35). She has also revealed that women are inferior to men in physicality and a number of areas throughout the essay. However, her

Mary Wollstonecraft made it her life’s mission to get educational, social, and political equality for not just women, but also men, though, women did face greater stratification amongst these three fields. Wollstonecraft faced widespread criticism for her beliefs that women could be equal to men, however, she was unstopped in her pursuit and used her works as a mouthpiece for this enterprise (Damrosch 279). Like Aphra Behn, Wollstonecraft’s presence in the literary field was a shake-up from social norms, and her manifestation as an accredited writer was an argument in of itself that women were capable of being just as rational as men, if given the opportunity to further their education past their early

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