Mary Wollstonecraft
...e with her own life, Wollstonecraft was able to put in a book her thoughts and feelings about the oppression of women and how it should be prevented. Wollstonecraft’s most famous and influential work, was a sustained argument from female emancipation that extended the Enlightenment motto of inalienable human rights to women, it is widely regarded, rightly so, as a landmark publication of feminist thought and idea. Wollstonecraft was a strong believer in feminism, which is defined as: commitment to the abolition of male domination in human society. Feminists differ widely in their accounts of the origins of patriarchy, their analyses of its most common consequences, and their concrete proposals for overcoming it, but all share in the recognition that the subordination of women to men in our culture is indefensible and eliminable. Many feminist philosophers oppose Cartesian dualism, scientific objectivity, and traditional theories of moral obligation as instances of masculine over-reliance on reason. Serious attention to the experiences of women would offer a more adequate account of human life . Feminism as has been defined, is what Mary Wollstonecraft stood for and symbolized. She wrote about feminism in such a manner that it whoever the reader be, it is still obvious of her concern and love for the rights of women. Sadly, Wollstonecraft’s life was cut short when she died of an infection after delivering her second child. Had this woman lived longer, she may have been able to have brought about equal rights in women sooner. In 1792, she published her “A Vindication on the Rights of Woman”, an important work which, advocating equality of the sexes, and the main doctrines of the later women's movement, made her both famous and infamous in her own time. She ridiculed prevailing notions about women as helpless, charming adornments in the household. Society had bred "gentle domestic brutes”. “Educated in slavish dependence and enervated by luxury and sloth," women were too often nauseatingly sentimental and foolish” . A confined existence also produced the sheer frustration that transformed these beloved of the household into tyrants over child and servant. Education held the key to achieving a sense of self-respect and a new self-image that would enable women to put their capacities to good use. Mary Wollstonecraft was a radical in the sense that she desired to bridge the gap between mankind's present circumstances and ultimate perfection. She was truly a child of the French Revolution and saw a new age of reason and benevolence close at hand. Mary undertook the task of helping women to achieve a better life, not only for themselves and for their children, but also for their husbands. Of course, it took more than a century before society began to put her views into effect. She seemed to believe that education of women would not only benefit women but also future generations of males and females. Women would be capable of being better parents and better spouses. Women would be educated and be able to carry on conversations with their husbands and eventually anyone who wanted to discuss. Jone Johnson Lewis, an author for History Guide, describes Wollstonecraft as the “mother of feminism” , in an article she wrote. She goes on to discuss Wollstonecraft’s abilities as an author and early feminist by stating that A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, is a must read for anyone who wants to understand feminism and its history. Lewis, is almost correct in calling Wollstonecraft the “mother of feminism”, there were other authors who wrote about feminism during the same period as Wollstonecraft, (for example, Olympe de Gouges). However, Wollstonecraft’s book had the most impact on the world of feminism. Her work has a few glimmers of some modern sexuality and gender analysis in her consideration of the role of sexual feelings in the relationships between men and women . She discusses the education of women and the right that a woman has to being properly educated. Wollstonecraft’s ideas of women’s education were seen as radical at the time of publication but they became the basis for women’s rights and women’s equality to men. Mary Wollstonecraft can be claimed with some legitimacy by feminists: their critique of a "rights" approach echoes in Wollstonecraft's emphasis on duty in the family and in civic relationships . And she can also be seen as a precursor of the political feminists: her Vindication link women's oppression to the need for men to change . Lewis, in her critique challenges the reader to imagine the position of present feminism if Wollstonecraft had not been successful in her writings. In agreement with Lewis, women’s equality may not be as advanced as it is presently had it not been for the publications of Wollstonecraft. Women of today who have equal rights to men owe thanks and gratitude to the brilliant mind of Mary Wollstonecraft. In Janet Todd’s book, Mary Wollstonecraft, a Revolutionary Life, she discusses the publication of Vindication, as being difficult. However, it stirred the minds of many readers and reached a wide audience across Europe . A reader from Scotland, reported that the book was so in demand that one had no time to read it before it was snatched away by another interested reader. A reader of Blackburn, Rachel Prescott, stated that the book, “first induced me to think” . It is hard to believe that it took the publication of Vindication, for women to begin thinking for the first time. It is understandable that the oppression of women by men would lead to women not thinking on their own. It was lucky for the women of the late Enlightenment that Mary Wollstonecraft published her books when she did. Women felt that they were finally given the freedom that they needed to think for themselves. And men were given the opportunity to read a book that allowed them to see on paper what they had been doing to women by prohibiting their education. Janet Todd also praises Wollstonecraft for her advanced thinking and abilities that helped women to gain a sense of freedom. In addition to discussing the right a woman has to education, Wollstonecraft addresses the issue of religion in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In a book entitled, Mary Wollstonecraft, and 200 Years of Feminism, edited by Eileen Janes Yeo, the discussion of the issue of religion is addressed . In chapter IV of Vindication, Wollstonecraft addresses the issue of religion. She breaks away from addressing the reader who is presumed to be a man and turns he...