Category: Vindication of The Rights of Women

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman should be understood within the context of the Enlightenment as a movement containing complex and often contradictory political, religious, and philosophical implications. The most famous definition of the Enlightenment, though very late in the movement, comes in Immanuel Kant’s essay, “What is Enlightenment?”: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another”. For Kant, whose work Wollstonecraft very likely knew through her continental friends and translation work from German, the Enlightenment rested on a belief in the power of reason to discover binding moral, scientific, and philosophical truths that trumped the authority of old prejudices and traditions. Reason was above all universal; everyone had access to it and, consequently, everyone should choose to be bound by its decrees. In insisting on the rationality of women, Wollstonecraft drew out the radically egalitarian implications behind the Enlightenment project.

The Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason created in turn a lively conversation about its apparent opposite: emotion. By the time Wollstonecraft wrote, the idea that emotion belonged to the private sphere of women and reason to the public realm of men had become fairly common, if still controversial. Rousseau’s depiction of Sophie, the ideal woman in his educational novel Émile, who is raised to be sweet, docile, and interested only in pleasing her husband, is Wollstonecraft’s most explicit target when critiquing this prejudice, but by no means her only one. Yet most major thinkers of the Enlightenment, from Spinoza, to Hobbes, to Hume, were centrally concerned with the study of the passions or affections, the vast majority of which were not explicitly tied to gender roles. In emphasizing the role of the affections in creating new social relations, particularly through the family, Wollstonecraft is situating herself in a tradition of thinkers who see the passions as intimately tied to the public sphere. Her most obvious precursor in this is Adam Smith’s 1759 text, Theory of Moral Sentiments, which sees compassion as the basis of all social relations. Rousseau, too, in his less sexist moments in The Second Discourse, argues something very similar using the concept of amour-propre and the role of pity. Politically, the revolutionary dimension to Wollstonecraft’s argument places her in the company of a loose group of thinkers now often termed “the Radical Enlightenment.” As opposed to more conservative thinkers, such as Locke, who sought to realize Enlightenment ideals through gradual reform, members of the Radical Enlightenment thought that progress could only occur by sweeping away past social structures and institutions. Like most radical thinkers of the time, many of Wollstonecraft’s hopes for a more egalitarian future centered on the French Revolution. As a result, when the French minister of education proposed in 1791 a national system of schools that gave boys a comprehensive education in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, while only teaching girls sewing and home economics, Wollstonecraft was outraged. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was her response, offering an alternative mode of educating women to be full citizens in a revolutionary state.

The complicated role of religion in Wollstonecraft’s work and time are noteworthy: her own beliefs were, put simply, that all people could pursue virtue, a divine gift, through use of reason. Yet her arguments also drew on more traditionally Christian thinkers, such as Dr. Richard Price, a leader of the Dissenter community, who argued that all souls were equal before God and, consequently, needed equal education in order to avoid becoming overly dependent on the esteem of others.

In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft manufactured A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to enforce the idea of equal education for women within the minds of males and other intellectuals of her time period. She stresses the variances between men and women are solely caused by the drastic differences in education. During the eighteenth century, women are ineffectively taught because their education is only sought out to create ideal wives and mothers. Anything beyond that is seen as unnecessary since they were said to have few other purposes. Considering the unequal notions of education in England, Wollstonecraft, in A Vindication of the Rights of Women, persistently advocates for the potential women can reach in society if they were educated to the same extent as their male counterparts.

From the eyes of Wollstonecraft, the women’s education system was lacking the means necessary to aid in the development of young females. Females were not being challenged in their educational settings, so they were not able to critically think on virtually any topic. In women’s schools, upper powers attempted to keep them innocent so girls did not know the rightful way they should be educated. When the girls were young, sewing kits and dolls were put in front of them instead of challenging, difficult material which maintained women at a lower intellectual level than men. A women’s education was created so that they are prepared for marriage. It was only to train them to be good wives and mothers.

Majority of the blame for this unideal educational system can be put on the “hereditary honors, riches, and monarchy.” Wollstonecraft exclaimed the opinions on education will never change because the same people with the same beliefs will always be in power. When there is poor leadership in the monarchy, how is beneficial change going to be enforced? This was also a time where Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophies were gaining popularity. He stated that humans are naturally good to themselves and others, but Wollstonecraft disagrees strongly with this assumption because society is not in its “state of nature” because of the lack of interest towards women’s education. She is advocating for a “true state of civilization”2 with gender equality. She also criticizes male professions that have strong power because their egos grow and “the character of every man is formed by his profession.”3 This mindset carries to how men view women because they cannot have jobs with significance which makes women less significant in their eyes.

Wollstonecraft found that women and even society were jeopardized from the lack of education directed towards women. She believed that the typical stereotypes regarding women during this time were caused by this lack of teachings. Women were expected to think with their emotions and feelings, like the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, rather than logic or reasoning, like the views of Denis Diderot. Women cannot develop the skills of rational thinking fully because husbands and fathers shelter and overprotect them. In result of being “protected” from the world, they often act and think like children. They are not exposed to new ideas and stay concerned with their own beauty and receiving the attention from men that they are told to strive for. Entire generations of both men and women can be in jeopardy if a widowed mother has to partake in both roles of mother and father because she has no way of teaching the children applicable skills due to her inadequate education.

Women over centuries have been painted with the brush of kind, gentle, and innocent, as if they are trapped in childhood. Even though these are not bad descriptive words, they are not faltering either, they take away from their potential. Wollstonecraft addresses concerns with the depiction of women, as these artificial objects that men possess. She does this in her book A vindication of the Rights of Women, which is the follow up book to Vindication of the Rights of Men. The chapter that will be focused on will be chapter two “The prevailing opinion of a sexual character discussed.” That raises many questions about the educational rights of women and the lack that women offer within marriages. In Wollstonecraft’s perspective marriage is used to articulate the political arena, where women if given the chance can offer so much more than what is exceptive of them. There were wild though in her time “Wollstonecraft’s vision of equality was eclipsed by a celebration of exemplary womanhood in collective biographies of women, or “women worthies”. Wollstonecraft looks beyond her time, she wants to give women an identity more than just wives, daughters and far more than just objects. She wants them to be educated so that they can be true partners to their husbands rather than just an object of amusement. Her main argument is that this is taught to women at a young age and when they become mothers they go on to teach their daughter. While their sons learn of watching their fathers treat their mothers. Wollstonecraft helps her readers understand that at the time of writing when there was talk about human rights there was no talk about women rights they were still being considered inferior. The readers are meant to understand the benefits women can have on society when they are lifted from their standard gender role.

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman during the 18th century, while the French revolution was going on. In her manuscript, she uses the language of philosophy, however she also adds a personal tone, employing “I” and “you”. There is an autobiographical reference to create a feminine voice. “Mary Wollstonecraft’s… ‘the founding text of Anglo-American feminism”. Wollstonecraft does not write in a manner common to the 18th century philosophy. Her objective in this long form essay is that women should be educated in rational manner so that they could contribute to society. during this time, there was a notion that women were not capable of rational thought but Wollstonecraft along with other women writers argued that women were more than capable of rational thought. This was all happening with the French revolution going where ideas of representative government as well as human rights were being discussed, Wollstonecraft write to addresses the rights of women.3 Wollstonecraft was speaking to the women in the audience but rather the men, that felt that women did not belong in the political arena and she did this as to change their perspective on women. All she is saying is that there should be no double standard when it comes to virtue moral and intellectual virtue there should not differ in kind for women and men. She criticizes Dr. Gregory because according to Wollstonecraft the ideas amount to nothing more than a system of slavery. “Dr. Gregory’s advice respiting delicacy of sentiment, which he advices a woman not to acquire, if she has determined to marry.”

The main focus of this essay will be in regard to chapter two where Wollstonecraft argues for the rights of women. the fundamental importance of women having rights because they are mothers and wives. They should be educated so that they are helpful partners to their husbands as well they are the teachers to their children therefore they need to be educated. In chapter two

Wollstonecraft makes the point that women from childhood are taught to be weak and appealing to the male gaze. “Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and a crapulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the protection of man”5. Wollstonecraft also introduced Rousseau as well as Dr. Gregory as contributors to this image of women being weak and reliant on men. “Rousseau to Dr. Gregory, have contributed to render women more artificial, weak characters, than they would otherwise have been; and, consequently, more useless members of society”6 in her opinion she claims that it degrades one half of the human population. She takes the argument made by Rousseau that if men reached perfection of mind when they arrived at maturity, then it is acceptable that when a man and women become one, that the women can just lean on the man. according to Wollstonecraft men are just as debauched and childlike as women are assumed to be. Wollstonecraft really pushes the issue of women education because according to her women’s education is disorganized, fragmented and random. It is the main cause for why women are treated the way they are and she uses military men as a comparison. she also addresses the institution of marriage according to her women should be a friend of their husbands rather than merely a servile dependent. She also says that marriage should not base on love because that can die out making the marriage problematic. She says that women have been told to only to plan for the present in their marriage and to only develop virtues of gentleness and docility. Which only makes women toys of their husbands, which are meant to amuse them rather help them. The argument Wollstonecraft has to this is that “passive indolence” could possible not make good wives, as well men have sink women below the standard of rational creatures.

In chapter two of her novel it discusses the important roles that women play as wives and that if women are continually oppressed by society and deprived by education, they cannot be good wives. “In order to make a man and his wife one, that he should rely entirely on his underhanging; and the graceful ivy, clamping the oak that supported it, would form a whole in which strength and beauty would be equally conspicuous”7 for there to be understanding between the two of them there should be mutual intellect. This is important because if women do not connect with their husbands they will look for illicit love affairs elsewhere in order to continue to stimulate their sensibility. Another outcome is that unconsciously they will tyrannize over their husbands for power. In Wollstonecraft’s perspective, an ideal marriage is one that resembles friendship in its emphasis on freedom and this mirrors political liberalism “The most holy band of society is friendship. It has been well fade, by a shrewd satirist, ‘ that rare as true love is, true friendship is fill rarer.’8It can be noted that Wollstonecraft depicts marriage along the same lines as political manner, but the question arises where sexuality falls but Wollstonecraft argues against letting sex and passion be the central role in a relationship. She does this because sexual desire can fade but a connection that beyond looks will not. Women need to be educated because they can offer so much more to the political arena, in the same way a wife can.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to understand that Wollstonecraft to introducing ideas that were far beyond her time. She introduced ideas of liberty and equality, that women are more than just objects that are meant to amuse their husbands. When she was done her manuscript, she was not sure that she did the subject matter justice “’I am dissatisfied, with myself,’ she told him, ‘for not having done justice to the subject . . .’ She was right; she hadn’t; nor in fact has anyone since.” But even with her concern she has been a critical piece in the rights of women. Even with all the recognition not everyone agreed with Wollstonecraft’s ideas like Julie Murray who addressed concerns in Mary Wollstonecraft and Modernity where she says that Wollstonecraft attacked chivalry. “Arguing that Mary Wollstonecraft grasped in profound ways that rights are not only or even necessarily modern, the author suggests that Wollstonecraft’s attack on chivalry…”, which in some senses she does, she steps away from the gender roles where men are the protectors and women are meant to be protected. She wants women to move in a direction where they no longer rely on the men in their lives. This is a notion that is important even in today’s society, women must move away from damsel in distress notion because we do not need recusing but rather we can do the rescuing.

During the Romantic Era nature was used as a model for writers to base their writings as well as their beliefs of off. Nature is described through their poetry as representing the best and properly ordered aspect of things. Also, nature is the representation of sincerity, equality and perfection. In nature everything that is alive has the same and equal opportunities to strive and prosper, it is one equal balance. Nature is full of emotion, this is important because many romantic poets believed that if you can get the reader emotionally connected to the reading it makes it that much more powerful. This is a reason why nature was such a popular topic for poets during this time period. However nature is distinct from social existence. Society as a whole has become separated from our natural side causing us to lose touch with our inner self, as well with our belief that every living thing has a place and a purpose in this world. Two women Romantic writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Felecia Dorothea Hemans take the Romantic idea of equality as the basis for their writings. In her A Vindication of the Rights of Women Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women are seen as no more than objects by man in their society, also she writes that instead of trying to challenge this ideology, women fall right into its grips and play along. Wollstonecraft begs for her readers to strive for personal liberation. On the other hand, Hemans in her writing of India Woman’s Death Song, writes about a Indian mother on the brink of suicide. she implies how society can be influential on a woman’s life in a negative way. Hemans used Wollstonecraft’s writings to base her story, they work in cohesion with one another. They are different but have the same takeaway. That is why, the two writers respond to the social restrictions placed on women’s lives by traditional gender expectations clearly but differently.

In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft defines and makes a criticism about women’s position in society in order to respond to social restrictions. Although she accepts gender differences as natural, she refused to believe the common misconception that society has that women are inferior to men. For example “I am aware of an obvious inference:—from every quarter have I heard exclamations against masculine women; but where are they to be found?” (I.4). In this quote from the first page, Wollstonecraft is addressing the critics who claim if women are granted the same amount of education and privileges as men then women will become to masculine. Wollstonecraft addresses this topic by saying that women will not become more masculine if granted more rights. This surely will give women more opportunities to speak their mind and make an impact on things but if men are as confident as they say they are then men should not be worried by the challenge. “It is acknowledged that they spend many of the first years of their lives in acquiring a smattering of accomplishments; meanwhile strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves—the only way women can rise in the world—by marriage.” (I.12). Wollstandcraft is addressing the fact that women are seen for no more than just their beauty. Women are seen as superficial beings, a woman is taught that her most important feature is her natural beauty. From a young age, women are brought up and taught to please a man. Whether this is by staying home and taking care of the house or be sexual pleasures. This idea that women should skip the phase of formal education and solely be taught how to be a house made and husband pleasure is taught to women their whole life by the teachings of man. Whether directly or indirectly women are always educated on what men want them to be. society’s big focus on marriage tends to make women into superficial beings. After all, what can you expect when their only way of getting ahead is to marry a rich guy. Spending all of your time focusing on appearances and trying to look pretty doesn’t make for a well-rounded human with a wide variety of interests.

Log One: Societies’ double standards

Taylor Swift has grown to be a global superstar and household name. Swift wrote and released her first, self-titled album ‘Taylor Swift’ when she was just sixteen years old and has amassed an empire since then. In 2019, Swift realised her much anticipated seventh studio album, ‘Lover’. This brings us to the theme of Log One: double standards within society. ‘The Man’ is the fourth track on Swift’s album ‘Lover’ with the song’s underlying theme being double standards within society and whether, as a man, Swift would be perceived differently by the public eye than what she is now.

As mentioned previously, ‘The Man’ is a song about double standards within society, with this essay analysing some of Swift’s lyrics and connecting them to Wollstonecraft’s ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’. Within the song, Swift writes the lyrics, ‘I’d be a fearless leader, I’d be an alpha type’ . These lyrics are particularly important because they imply that because Swift is a woman, she cannot be a leader or an ‘alpha’ within society because these two notions are not compatible with being what a woman should be by societal norms. Throughout history, men have always been associated with being strong, protective and dominant, which supposedly is synonymous with perfect leadership; society says that because men are stronger and dominant, they should be the ones who lead. This is a prime example of double standards within society; it’s okay for men to be strong and assertive, but its frowned upon if a woman does the same. Historically, women have always been the ‘inferior’ sex who were only put on this earth to please and serve men. Women have always been viewed as softer and less brutish than men, and there has always been an expectation that women should not voice their opinion and should always be subdued and stand in the corner looking pretty. This can be corroborated to Wollstonecraft who vehemently disagrees with these societal expectations of women within her work, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in which she writes, “I wish to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness” . Wollstonecraft very clearly recognises that women being synonymous with sensitivity, refinement and delicacy is also associated with weakness and lack of ability, something that is not synonymous with leadership. Wollstonecraft implies that women should rebel against societal expectations of them and take control of their own destinies rather than the destinies that men could provide for them. This can also be corroborated to the lyrics that Swift writes, as the lyrics within the song imply that society looks down and scrutinises women if they are strong and assertive, which can also be corroborated back to Wollstonecraft, where she writes, “strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty” . Wollstonecraft, throughout her work, wants women to overlook societies social expectations of themselves, which is something that Swift is alluding to within her song, ‘The Man’.

Log Two: Marriage and Children in Contemporary Society

Within ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’, Wollstonecraft alludes to women only having some form of place or power within society through marriage. Wollstonecraft writes, “the only way a woman can rise in the world – marriage” . Within this quote, Wollstonecraft implies that women must have a man in their life to succeed within the world and that without marriage or a man, women cannot get as far as they could if they did have a man. It is as though Wollstonecraft recognises that society unfortunately always expects a man to be behind a women’s success. This quote also implies that women need a man to be successful in life and cannot achieve success whilst alone and that marriage is crucial for women to move up the social hierarchy ladder. Through this quote, Wollstonecraft accidentally alludes to the glass ceiling concept which is an intangible barrier which prevents women from progressing within the working hierarchical system. Because this metaphoric glass ceiling exists, women are likely focusing more on having a career rather than children because of the difficulties that they face when trying to get a good position within work in comparison to a man.

Even in contemporary society, it is still expected of women to marry a man and have children when the time is right. I watched a Podcast in which one of the narrators, Cristine, expresses that she does not want children despite persistent questions from her friends, family and people from the internet about when she is going to have children and get married to the other narrator, Ben . This can be corroborated to Wollstonecraft because of how she recognises that within society, it is expected that women get married to somehow climb the ladder within society, when in reality, it should not be this be this way and women can create their own success without being married, just as Cristine has from the podcast. Marriage is not a necessary requirement for women to succeed in the world, but, as mentioned previously, society seemingly always expects a man to behind a woman’s success and a woman’s success is always more so scrutinised and picked apart by society than men. This can also be linked to log one’s theme of double standards because women are always more scrutinised for their success, whereas men are usually congratulated on their success; men do not need marriage to rise in the world, so therefore neither should women.

Within the podcast, Cristine also explains that she does not want children and that there is an existing historical pressure on women that once they reach a certain age or have been in a relationship for a while that they must have children . Wollstonecraft also recognises this within ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in which she writes, “I do not wish them to have power over men, but power over themselves” . This implies that women do not have the power to make their own life decisions or decisions in general and that men are the ones who should make decisions for women about certain things such as having children because women are viewed as weak, silly and uneducated. This can be corroborated to Cristine as it is as though her friends, family and others have made the decision for her about whether she will have children, and that it is expected of her to have children despite not wanting children because she is happy as she is and has never been maternal; it is also expected that all women are maternal and should want children but this is not the case and should not be the case.

Log Three: Women’s Education

Wollstonecraft believed that every woman should have the right to an equal education. Throughout ‘A Vindication for the Rights of Women’, Wollstonecraft implies that women are robbed of their right to access the same education as boys. Wollstonecraft writes, “In the middle rank of life, to continue the comparison, men, in their youth, are prepared for professions and marriage is not considered a grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on the contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties” . This implies that women are not worthy of the same education as men have, which could be connected to the trivial view of women being weak and stupid with their only purpose being to please and serve men. Wollstonecraft also believed that the ideal woman would be free and educated, however, this is not possible in a world that is set up by men, to only benefit men which is something that is still unfortunately prevalent in less economically developed countries today.

Across the globe, women continue to suffer from patriarchal societies that keep them from receiving the same access to education as their male counterparts . In less economically developed countries, most women still do not seem to have access to a basic education and are excluded from education just because they are female. According to an article I read by Forbes, only 14% of low-income women graduate from secondary school . This is disgraceful, every female has the right to an education and there are also disadvantages to women not having access to a proper education such as lack of education on sex and contraception which inevitably leads to larger families and overpopulation, along with high infant mortality rates . There are clearly benefits of educating women, which Wollstonecraft also recognises within ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’. Wollstonecraft writes, “Day schools, for particular ages, should be established by government, in which boys and girls might be educated together” . By suggesting educating boys and girls together, Wollstonecraft is also eliminating discrimination against females and is also contributing to a more equal society; if boys are educated with girls from a young age, they will less likely discriminate against girls and therefore also have more respect for girls and women. In addition to this, by suggesting equality within education, Wollstonecraft is also allowing women to ‘sharpen their faculties’ and therefore allowing women to not be viewed as inferior and unintelligent, which therefore will also change modern societal views across the world and in less economically developed countries where, as mentioned in the Forbes article, many women are still discriminated and denied an education, simply because they are female.

Log Four: The Sexual Objectification of Women

Within ‘A Vindication for the Rights of Women’, Wollstonecraft alludes to the idea that women are only put onto this earth to serve and gratify men. Unfortunately, for much of history there has always been a gender divide; men are the ones who work and bring money to their homes and women are the babymakers who’s purpose is to find a husband to climb the social hierarchy and look after their husbands. On page 565 of ‘A Vindication for the Rights of Women’ Wollstonecraft writes, “Men who, considering females rather as women than human creatures, have been more anxious to make them alluring mistresses than affectionate wives” . This strongly implies that women are viewed as mere sex objects to men, and that women are therefore below men within society. This also implies that women are also objectified and only viewed as pleasure for men rather than life partners because of how women are perceived as weak and incapable in terms of mental capacity in comparison to men; this is a stereotype set up by men to oppress women so that men can maintain control and power. Wollstonecraft is also therefore alluding to gender stereotypes of women that have unfortunately been carried into our society today.

In contemporary times, there is still the existing gender stereotype of women being sexual objects for male gratification rather than human beings that are equal to men. These gender stereotypes are unfortunately fuelled by modern media which contributes to the hyper sexualization of women through magazines, TV and social media. According to an informative page I read by UNICEF, nearly 1 in 5 girls are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lifetime . This is likely not only due to hyper sexualisation from the media, but also due to gender stereotypes of women that have been in existence for centuries; men think that they can ‘have their way’ with women because they have always been viewed as inferior and unintelligent, and men have always been the ‘Braun’ with power over women which is likely due to society being set up to favour men over women. These harmful gender stereotypes also likely contribute to the normalisation of violence against women and therefore the sexual objectification of women; if men see women as objects rather than humans with feelings because of hyper sexualization, more women are unfortunately going to suffer from sexual abuse. This can be corroborated to ‘A Vindication for the Rights of Women’ in which Wollstonecraft writes, “they [women] are treated as a kind of subordinate beings and not part of the human species” . This, unfortunately, is still extremely prevalent in modern society by the continuous oversexualisation of women in the media, which re-enforces the view of women being ‘subordinate beings’, just as Wollstonecraft points out within ‘A Vindication of the rights of Women’. This can also be corroborated to log one with Swift’s song, ‘The Man’, in which Swift writes the lyrics, “What I was wearing, if I was rude, could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves” which implies that women are more often judged for what they wear, therefore also oversexualising women, rather than if they are educated which also therefore supports Wollstonecraft’s argument that women are viewed as ‘subordinate beings’ who’s whole purpose is to serve men and look pretty for men instead of being intelligent and contributing to society.

Bibliography

1. Gutterman, Alison. ‘It’s Time To Get Serious About Educating Women Around The World’. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2018/09/10/its-time-to-get-serious-about-educating-women-around-the-world-the-economy-will-thank-us/#741e0cb76ed9.
2. Wilson, Lana. 2020. Miss Americana. Film. United States: Tremolo Productions.
3. Swift, Taylor, Little, Joel. 2019. The Man. Online. New York City: Republic Records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqAJLh9wuZ0.
4. SimplyPodLogical. 2020. ‘SimplyPodLogical #3’. Podcast. Relationships, Children & why Ben won’t propose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WywN547im8s&t=3569s.
5. Wollstonecraft, Mary. 1792. A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
6. Miss Americana, 2020, [Online], Lana Wilson, United States, Tremolo Productions, Viewed on 31/03/2020, Netflix.
7. Swift, Jaimee & Gould, Hannah. 2020. ‘Not An Object: On Sexualization and Exploitation of Women and Girls’. UNICEF USA. https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/not-object-sexualization-and-exploitation-women-and-girls/30366.

In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft manufactured A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to enforce the idea of equal education for women within the minds of males and other intellectuals of her time period. She stressed the variances between men and women are solely caused by the drastic differences in education. During the eighteenth century, women were ineffectively taught because their education is only sought out to create ideal wives and mothers. Anything beyond that was seen as unnecessary since they were said to have few other purposes. Considering the unequal notions of education in England, Wollstonecraft, in A Vindication of the Rights of Women, persistently advocated for the potential women can reach in society if they were educated to the same extent as their male counterparts.

From the eyes of Wollstonecraft, the women’s education system lacked the means necessary to aid in the development of young females. Females were not being challenged in their educational settings, so they were not able to think critically on virtually any topic. In women’s schools, upper powers attempted to keep them innocent in order for girls to not know the proper way they should be educated. When the girls were young, sewing kits and dolls were put in front of them instead of challenging, difficult material which maintained women at a lower intellectual level than men. A women’s education was created so they are prepared for marriage. It was only to train them to be good wives and mothers.

Majority of the blame for this unideal educational system can be put on the “hereditary honors, riches, and monarchy.”1 Wollstonecraft exclaimed the opinions on education will never change because the same people with the same beliefs will always be in power. When there is poor leadership in the monarchy, how is beneficial change going to be enforced? This was also a time where Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophies were gaining popularity. He stated that humans are naturally good to themselves and others, but Wollstonecraft disagrees strongly with this assumption because society is not in its “state of nature” because of the lack of interest towards women’s education. She is advocating for a “true state of civilization”2 with gender equality. She also criticized male professions that have strong power because their egos grew to large and “the character of every man is formed by his profession.”3 This mindset carried towards how men view women because they cannot have jobs with significance, which makes women less significant in their eyes.

Wollstonecraft found that women and even society were jeopardized from the lack of education directed towards women. She believed that the typical stereotypes regarding women, during this time, were caused by this lack of teachings. Women were expected to think with their emotions and feelings, like the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, rather than logic or reasoning, like the views of Denis Diderot. Women could not develop the skills of rational thinking fully because husbands and fathers shelter and overprotect them. In result of being “protected” from the world, they often act and think like children. They are not exposed to new ideas and only stay concerned with their own beauty and receiving the attention from men that they are told to strive for. Entire generations of both men and women would be in jeopardy if a widowed mother had to partake in both roles of mother and father because she had no way of teaching the children applicable skills due to her inadequate education.

In attempts to fix the problem, Wollstonecraft presented many solutions that would benefit all females in education. She argued that education should be shaped to each person individually, but it should reflect “the opinions and manners of the society they live in.”4 Unfortunately, the society in the eighteenth century does not put the education of women as a priority. One of her biggest arguments was that men should not be made responsible for women’s moral and intellectual growth. If men did not know how women should be rightfully taught, how were women supposed to benefit from men telling them how they were supposed to learn. She stated that co-educational public schools are the most ideal form of education for both genders by gaining an education with others and having the comfort of their homes at night. Wollstonecraft also mentions that young boys and girls could develop inappropriate behaviors by only being with their same gender all day. Ideally, she would like school to be free with boys and girls dressing alike “to prevent any of the distinctions of vanity”5 and “not be confined to any sedentary employment more than an hour at a time”6 for more allotted time for daily exercise and socialization. She desired a curriculum that included multiple sciences, history, reading, writing, math, and more. The addition of sciences was especially important for women because science advances one’s ability to reason, so, in result, girls as a group could reason. She also wanted “humanity to animals”7 to become a priority in school because the mistreatment of animals at a young age can cause the implementation of cruelty on future wives and children. After nine years old, she proposed students to be separated to their desired plans for the future after spending the morning undergoing basic classes with both genders. She strongly enforced the idea of keeping men and females together throughout this entire process.

The main purpose for the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Women was to spread awareness of the problem of unequal education. If education improved, society as a whole will be positively impacted. Wollstonecraft published this manuscript to be a catalyst for change where change was necessary. Drastic changes needed to be made or the idea of women’s pride and worth would remain insignificant. Wollstonecraft’s writings accelerated the conversation within England and fought for the idea that rightful education is a right all women deserve.

1. Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women: with Structures on Political and Moral Subject. London: Johnson, 1796.

A Woman’s Place

Women have experienced hardships since the beginning of time. Society has always placed certain standards upon women which, despite many attempts to remove them, will never go away. Many artists have found inspiration in such hardships and utilized them as their muse within their works. Writers, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen, often touched on the topic of women’s rights in an attempt to help bring light to the inequalities amongst men and women. However, despite their efforts, society still prevailed.

Often throughout history women have not typically been appreciated for all they are capable of. Society has a way of placing more importance and attention on the accomplishments of men. Qualities that make men desirable, in turn, make women far less so. Historically, the role of women has remained within a matriarchically centralized category. Women were expected to take care of the home, to care for the children, and to be subservient to their husbands.

In Mary Wollstonecraft’s work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she tries to inform her readers of the difficulties in a day in the life of a woman. She tells of the unfair standards placed upon women simply for their sex. During the 18th and 19th centuries, women were only as valuable as her capabilities as a wife and a mother. Qualities such as open-mindedness, intelligence, independence and even sexuality were not desirable when present in a woman. Such characteristics were considered to be masculine and were not attractive otherwise. Wollstonecraft wrote, “meanwhile, strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves, the only way women can used in this world – by marriage” (A Vindication of the Rights of Women). The sacrifices necessary to be made were extensive and persistent. Husbands often had no interest in discovering the knowledge and strength their wives held within themselves.

In Victorian England, a woman was expected to relinquish any and all assets she may have rights to when entering into a marriage. The idea of giving up any real rights to owned property seems ludicrous; however, as Jane Austen said in one of her letters to her niece, “Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor-which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony.” A cure for the curse that was as woman’s poverty was marriage. If a woman married to a wealthy man with societal status, she gained an element of respect that was not given to single women. This was a normality in this time, and as such, women’s roles did not make any notable improvements.

“My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.” This quote was from Mary’s work A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote this work in an indirect attempt to spread a wave of feminism and to inspire women to stand for themselves; however, the feministic movement pushed forward at a much slower rate than expected. After any strides towards equality, women were granted the right to vote many years later and to this day strides are still made to change inequalities.

Wollstonecraft sparked a movement that would lead to great improvement within the lives of women. Women started to band together to better the lives of one another and take a stand for their liberties. Writers such as Austen used their creative abilities to provide an underhanded insight to those who may not have otherwise paid attention to the injustices around them. The role of women will always carry the same connotation of being the submissive caretakers, but thanks to writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft women have the courage to take a stance for themselves.

Reference List

1. Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Strictures on … www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/wollstonecraft1792.pdf.
2. Austen, Jane. “In Jane Austen’s Own Words: Advice to Fanny Knight About Love.” Login – Ashworth College, courses.ashworthcollege.edu/d2l/le/lessons/12046/topics/224624.
3. Austen, Jane. “Pride and Prejudice.” Leviathan – Download Book – PDF EPUB – Freeditorial, freeditorial.com/en/books/pride-and-prejudice/readonline.