Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was a tough read. Mainly in that it contained vocabulary that, to a child of the new millennium, are foreign despite being part of his spoken language. No doubt, the language is antiquated, but one still has to understand the vocabulary in order to read the piece. So I set off on the arduous journey through the eighteenth century upper class, highly educated, vernacular. Once I managed the vocabulary as best I could, her points became quite clear. In essence, she blames the condition of eighteenth century women on men and their actions throughout the past.

According to Wollstonecraft the main culprit in women’s less than desirable condition is an inadequate education system. Lack of education, unlike with men, leaves most women, except for the very fortunate or self taught, in the dark, especially on the principles of reason. Wollstonecraft’s makes the argument that reason should be the primary goal of all humans. Women are not taught to reason. Girls are taught not to think, but to act in such a way that they need never think. Women are taught to look beautiful and act beautiful so that men will marry them and take care of them for the rest of their lives.  I really found this interesting considering I live in a time where some women are choosing to forgo marriage in favor of leading the rest of their life as a single, independent women. Also, as a man in this generation, I don’t see why one would deny women the chance to be educated. Women should receive the same schooling as men. Given that men and women are different in many ways, equal education will promote broader ideas to improve society.

One of my favorite parts of this essay was her comparison of uneducated women to soldiers. Wollstonecraft makes the point that women and soldiers share some of the same characteristics. Both are taught to follow orders, so to speak. Both are expected to be subservient. An army is only as strong as its soldiers are blindly obedient. Wollstonecraft also points out that women are bound by their appearance. Women are taught to be pretty and coy. Soldiers are taught to stand up straight and push out their chests. They are told to parade around full of pomp and vigor. They are not, however, allowed to think.

I also find it interesting that Wollstonecraft makes the point that, if we leave women uneducated, marriages will fail. Put simply, since the woman has been taught only to please she will do such. The husband will be happy at first but then become accustomed to her and become bored, thus leaving the woman bitter and the man searching for another. In essence Wollstonecraft is saying that a thinking woman makes a better wife. I had a harder time with this part of the argument. Many families seem to get along fairly well with an uneducated mother and a full-time working father. I don’t know that similar educational backgrounds are the key to marital bliss. 

Wollstonecraft was clearly writing her essay for learned men of her generation. I found the reading difficult and boring at times. I know that it’s an essay of argument with points and counter points, but it was hard to identify them because the language was so challenging and drawn out.