A Vindication Of The Rights Of Wom The First Wave Of Feminism

Feminism no doubt has a long history, dating back all the way to the 1700s. In history, feminism and feminist movements have been split into “waves''. The first wave took place in the late 1700s and early 1800s. This wave of feminism focused specifically on viewing women as actual human beings rather than a man’s property. However, during this time racism was still highly rampant in Canada and the United States, so this movement focused only on cishet white women. The second wave took place in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on challenging and rejecting traditional gender norms and redefining what is masculine vs what is feminine. Though these were improvements since the first wave, they still failed to include women of colour and women who are

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the oldest feminist texts to exist, promoting what is considered to be progressive ideologies to women in the late 1700s. In this book, Wollstonecraft argues for equality for women in various areas of society such as education and social standing. Her main argument is that women are not inherently inferior to men, but rather women are perceived as inferior due to a lack of opportunities in areas of education and social development (“Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man.”[Wollstonecraft, ch13.6]). She contends that women should have access to the same opportunities as men as to fully develop their intellectual and moral capacities. Additionally, Wollstonecraft argues that a well educated woman would make for a better mother, wife, and citizen who would be able to both take care of a household and be a contributing member of society. (“Besides, how should a woman void of reflection be capable of educating her children? [ch5.1]). She further challenges the traditional gender roles that confine women to domestic and subservient lifestyles, advocating for their active participation in public life and political discourse. This book heavily criticises the sexualization of women, arguing that this objectification

The book explores the issue of gender bias in data and its consequences on women's lives. Drawing on a wide range of research and examples, Perez highlights how the default male perspective influences and controls almost every aspect of society, leading to systematic neglect and discrimination of women. (“The result of this deeply male-dominated culture is that the male experience, the male perspective, has come to be seen as universal, while the female experience--that of half the global population, after all--is seen as, well, niche.” [Caroline Criado Perez, introduction, page 12]). The book starts off by examining the gender data gap, the phenomenon where crucial data about women is often missing or not collected. Perez explains that historical biases and assumptions have led to an unfair approach in data collection and analysis, focusing mostly on male statistics and sata. As a result, many aspects of women's lives, such as healthcare, transportation, and urban planning, have been overlooked or poorly understood, leading to inadequate and even harmful outcomes for women. (“Urban planning that fails to account for women's risk of being sexually assaulted is a clear violation of women's equal right to public spaces...”). Perez further examines the gender data gap in transportation, demonstrating how transportation