In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft argues that the subjection of women leads to a host of ill effects, not just for women, but for society and the whole human race. Only with greater freedom can women, according to Wollstonecraft, adequately carry out their proper roles in the domestic arena and truly contribute to society.
Wollstonecraft's arguments must be seen through the lens of late-1700s British society. Her assertions are based on logic within the framework of the worldview of the time, with Christian morality and conformity to God's will as ultimate goals, and the notion of rights and liberties familiar and agreeable to the educated classes. The arguments must have been convincing to British readers, because her book was very well received.
Wollstonecraft asserts that women, possessing God-given souls just as men, are similarly destined by God to acquire human virtues. The acquisition of virtue is, in a sense, the purpose of human life. The acquisition of virtue also leads to happiness. Virtue is acquired through the exercise of reason, but women are denied this exercise and thus denied virtue and happiness.
Women themselves, claims Wollstonecraft, corroborate in their own infantilization by craving men's attention and approval, which in turn are based on the women's beauty alone. Meanwhile, that beauty is premised on qualities deemed to be feminine, like ignorance, helplessness, and reliance on men.
Wollstonecraft makes clear that the inferior role of women is a detriment to marriage, family life, and society as a whole. Women can only play their proper role if they are freed and allowed to exercise their reason. In arguing for women's education, for example, Wollstonecraft proposes that women cannot possibly run a household in an orderly fashion without some education in orderliness. Furthermore, for Wollstonecraft rights and duties are inseparable. Dereliction of duty among women is a consequence of the unnatural order of things in society. Once women achieve physical, moral, and civil freedom, their deficiencies will fall away and the whole of society will benefit.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Which of Wollstonecraft’s arguments for womens rights is the most convincing? Why?
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