Education of Women in A Vindication of the Right of Women and Woman in the Nineteenth Century
In two centuries where women have very little or no rights at all, Mary Wollstonecraft and Margaret Fuller appear as claiming voices, as two followers of feminism. Two women separated by a century but united by the same ideals. In these male- dominated societies, these two educated women tried to vindicate their rights through one of the few areas where they could show their intelligence: literature. So, in the 18th century we find Wollstonecraft´s A Vindication of the Right of Women and in the 19th her successor Margaret Fuller’s Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Two books written with the same purpose: to vindicate the rights of women and to try to create a better situation for women, yet through two differing points of view, the difference of one century.
As there are too many points about the rights of women dealt with by these books, I am going to concentrate in one of these vindictive points: the education of women.
Throughout this paper, I am going to show how these two women wrote about women education from two different kind of feminism, what they thought about it and how they dealt with this subject.
During the 18th century there was little argument for civil and educational rights for women. There was more concern about racial matters than about women status and rights. When Mary Wollstonecraft wrote Vindication of the Right of Woman, she tried to fulfil this lack of civil and educational rights for women. This is a plea to give equality of opportunity to women. The education she promoted was a mixture of information and rational skills. She stresses the importance of educating both sexes together, somethi...
... middle of paper ...
...t, not only a light version of what was taught to boys. Romanticism did not define female nature only in contrast to men. Romanticism does not describe women as the negative counterpart of men. Fuller’s feminism is also romantic because she believed that women could be free by themselves only if they united together but never if united with men.
This difference of feminism is based on the different time both of them live on, while in the 18th century women had no rights at all, in the following one they begin to have access to education, so now the following step was to achieve the liberation that Fuller vindicate in her work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wollstonecraft, Mary. Vindication of the Right of Woman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972.
Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century and Other Writings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Vindication of the Rights of Women with Structures on Political and Moral
The Revolutionary war, sparked by the colonist’s anger towards taxation without representation, was a conflict between the United States and its mother country Great Britain. This event had been considered the most significant event in the American history. It separated the thirteen colonies from the tyrannical ruling of King George. The revolutionary war was not a big war, “The military conflict was, by the standards of later wars, a relatively modest one. Battle deaths on the American side totaled fewer than 5,000”1. However, the war proved that the thirteen colonies were capable of defeating the powerful Great Britain. Over the years there were many Hollywood films made based on the revolutionary war, 1776, Revolution, Johnny Tremain, and The Patriot. But, no movie has stirred up as much controversy as the Mel Gibbson movie The Patriot. The patriot is very entertaining but it is historically inaccurate. Too much Hollywood “spices” was added to the movie for viewing pleasures.
As mentioned above, women’s role were unjust to the roles and freedoms of the men, so an advanced education for women was a strongly debated subject at the beginning of the nineteenth century (McElligott 1). The thought of a higher chance of education for women was looked down upon, in the early decades of the nineteenth century (The American Pageant 327). It was established that a women’s role took part inside the household. “Training in needlecraft seemed more important than training in algebra” (327). Tending to a family and household chores brought out the opinion that education was not necessary for women (McElligott 1). Men were more physically and mentally intellectual than women so it was their duty to be the educated ones and the ones with the more important roles. Women were not allowed to go any further than grammar school in the early part of the 1800’s (Westward Expansion 1). If they wanted to further their education beyond grammar, it had to be done on their own time because women were said to be weak minded, academically challenged and could n...
Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Sor Juana de la Cruz are writers of the Enlightenment period, but they each approach women’s rights in a different way. While De la Druz was a Catholic nun from Mexico ad preferred to study and be alone, Wollstonecraft asserted women’s rights for all through publications directed at the masses. During the Enlightenment, people began to question old authoritative models like the Church. Our texts states, “thinkers believed inreason as a dependable guide. Both sides insisted that one should not take any assertion of truth on faith, blindly following the authority of others; instead, one should think skeptically about causes and effects, subjecting all truth-claims to logic andrational inquiry” (Puchner 92). Indeed,
A change in feminism is shown between Wollstonecraft’s essay and Young’s essay. As women first demanded rights, they were coming out of complete dependence on men. Wollstonecraft and other activists fought for the basic right of education for women. As women gained liberty, they began to oppress themselves in the Third Wave of feminism. Wollstonecraft focused on the basic rights of women in her paper, saying “They must be permitted to turn to the fountain of light, and not forced to shape their course by the twinkling of a mere satellite” (Wollstonecraft 5). Here Wollstonecraft is saying that women need to be given the opportunity to get a good education, not just be taught by what their husbands tell them, so they could be their better selves.
It is a declaration for the equal rights of man and women. The political significance of Mary Wollstonecraft cannot be overstated—her work is regarded as one of the first greatest feminist treatises in history and is also seen as the first step towards liberal feminism. She fought equality for women in the political sphere, but she also addressed the need for equality in the social, private realm. She emphasized the need for reform in women’s status, education, and maternal duties. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft argues that men and women are born with the same ability to reason. Therefore, men and woman should equally be able to exercise reason and attain knowledge. And conclusively, educated women would ultimately improve society; they would become better wives and mothers (72, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman). She argues that the current education system (i.e. Rousseau’s ideas of women education) restricts women and subjects them into passivity. Women are not perceivably “smart” as men because they have not been given the opportunity to be; women receive a “disorderly kind of education” (46, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman). Women are kept in passivity, forced to superficiality and shallowness. She derides these traits that are seen as inherent to a woman’s nature and asks the powerful question: how are women supposed to contribute to society if they have been reduced to their appearance and bodily function? For a thriving, modern and true civilization to succeed, each and every individual must be encouraged to seek moral and intellectual development, including
Women throughout history have fought very hard to earn a respectable place in society, despite a patriarchal society and male dominance that remains. The roles of women have developed widely over time. Women frequently fall inferior to men politically, socially, and intellectually. This intellectual gap restricted many women to the role of a domestic caretaker. For others, education is the foundation to discover new ideas and new ways of thinking.
If scholarship is done right, it is that which is done impartially. The topic of this paper, the perfect woman, written by a man, may give those with prejudgments a ready answer to it; without the due analysis required by it. Reading both authors now, it is easy to bash Rousseau with sexism and stamp Wollstonecraft with feminism. But such was not my task, rather I examined both with an unprejudiced eye to the best of my ability. Thus, I hope the same is reciprocated by my reader, and take my interpretations and criticisms with the same impartial mind. To begin, then, my argument, I assert that although Rousseau and Wollstonecraft effect disparate views on the best education for women, the supposed disagreement of their model of the perfect woman is specious; their concept of the human species and its purpose is truly in contention.
In the nineteenth century the inequality of women was more than profound throughout society. Margaret Fuller and Fanny Fern both women of the century were much farther advanced in education and opinion than most women of the time. Fuller and Fern both harbored opinions and used their writing as a weapon against the conditions that were considered the norm in society for women. Margaret and Fuller were both influential in breaking the silence of women and criticizing the harsh confinement and burden of marriage to a nineteenth century man. Taking into consideration Woman in he Nineteenth Century by Fuller, Aunt Hetty on Matrimony, and The Working-Girls of New York by Fern, the reader can clearly identify the different tones and choice of content, but their purposes are moving towards the same cause. Regardless of their differences in writing, both Fern and Fuller wrote passionately in order to make an impact for their conviction, which was all too similar.
Women today are still viewed as naturally inferior to men, despite the considerable progress done to close this gap. Females have made a huge difference in their standing from 200 years ago. Whether anyone is sexist or not, females have made considerable progress from where they started, but there is still a long journey ahead. Mary Wollstonecraft was an advocate of women 's rights, a philosopher, and an English writer. One of Wollstonecraft’s best works was “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792). In her writing, she talks about how both men and women should be treated equal, and reasoning could create a social order between the two. In chapter nine of this novel, called “Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society,”
Education for women in the 1800s was far different from what we know today. During her life, a girl was taught more necessary skills around the home than the information out of school books. A woman’s formal education was limited because her job opportunities were limited—and vice versa. Society could not conceive of a woman entering a profession such as medicine or the law and therefore did not offer her the chance to do so. It was much more important to be considered 'accomplished' than thoroughly educated. Elizabeth Bennet indicated to her sisters that she would continue to learn through reading, describing education for herself as being unstructured but accessible. If a woman desired to further he education past what her classes would teach her, she would have to do so independently, and that is what most women did.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
Wollstonecraft, Mary, and Mary Wollstonecraft. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ; & A Vindication of the Rights of Men. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2008. Print.
Education has been the hurdle keeping women from gaining equality in society, by separating them from their male counterparts. Women who sought higher education were considered, heathens and the most disgusting beings that would perish. Without education to empower them, women were stripped of their dignity and rights by their husbands and other men of the community. The struggle for women higher education is a battle that still has not reached its citadel.
Buddhism is one of the major world religions with many followers around the world. It is unique in its nature as it is frequently referred to as a ‘spiritual tradition’ (Miller, 2010). Buddhism focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life (Johnston, 2003). Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible. This belief in the impermanence of all things underpins the Buddhist interpretation of the world and reality (Maguire, 2001).