author of a vindication of the rights of woman

Many of the issues that Wollstonecraft brought up have been solved-let's hear it for female doctors and politicians-but many of them, sadly, have not.Ĭome on, guys. We're still talking about the issues outlined in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

women should speak their minds without worrying about being perceived as 'masculine' or other undesirable traits.Īnd you know what? These issues are very much relevant today.

if women are shamed for having sex before marriage, then maybe men should be as well.

women's interest in dressing up and looking pretty is primarily a case of nurture, rather than nature.

women should be able to enter the world of medicine and politics.What else was Wollstonecraft talking about way back in 1792? She argued that: Wollstonecraft basically laid out the kind of public education system that's around in much of the world today. If that sounds familiar, it's because it is. Wollstonecraft called for education reform that would give girls and boys free (and equal) education. We wonder why Wollstonecraft was ticked off.Ī Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still totally pertinent today, and not just because it was a 'first of its kind' sort of deal. Men were freethinkers that could rule and change the world (or at least, y'know, have a job) and women were… pretty objects that could (bonus!) bear children. Yeah, this should be simple, but Wollstonecraft was pitting herself against super closed-minded thinkers who were under the impression that women and men were almost two different animals. This awesome lady, by the way, also wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Men.Ī Vindication sets out on a seemingly super-simple mission: to explain how men and women are totally equal beings. And Mary Wollstonecraft, the author who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, would be horrified at that suggestion. Some people-even today-have the idea that feminism is some sort of cult that calls for women to have all the power and men to be subservient. What exactly is A Vindication of the Rights of Woman all about? Well, it's basically arguing for the dictionary definition of feminism: a belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. That's back when huge curled wigs were super stylin'. That's less than twenty years after the good ol' U.S. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, basically the first feminist philosophical work, was published in 1792. Points for effort, but feminism came along way before that. If we were to say 'Quick, Shmooper: when did feminism start?' you might say 'Um: early 20th century, with the suffragettes!' or 'Hmm: the 1960s with the slogan 'The Personal Is Political!' or 'Uhh, with Lean In?' A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Introduction

Author of a vindication of the rights of woman