Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

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 the male dominated society opinion on women’s roles in society. Wollstonecraft states that the lack or neglect in education is the main cause of female misery. Because of the lack of education, (the conduct and manner of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state….strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty) 2. Because education is the basis of achieving fundamental rights equal to that of men as Wollstonecraft’s describes, women in today’s modern day society should endorse the feminist movement in order to achieve the same fundamental rights as men; education of one’s potential and rights is vital in achieving self-respect and reviving ones self-image that would enable women to have a dynamic place in society akin to men.

The off beam thought that beauty outweighs education is blamed on (a false system of education, gathered from the book written on this subject by men who, considering females rather a women than human creatures) 2. In order to understand t...

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...en, their minds and future generations’ minds will be stimulated. Their brain will have the capacity to learn many things that range from simple puzzles to abstract thoughts. By educating both men and women equally, they will better understand the development of their children and the issues in the world that they will affect their children in the future.

Works Cited

1. Kreis, Steven. Mary Wollstonecraft [Internet]. 2000. [cited 2012 April 15] Available from: http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/wollstonecraft.html

2. Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman [Internet] 1792. [cited 2012 April 15] Available from: http://www.bartleby.com/144/

3. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Conference, 1848 [Internet]. 1889. [cited 2012 April 15] Available from: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.asp