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Mary Astell: Feminism In Eighteenth Century

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2.1 Feminism In the beginning of 11th century women were bound to the religious roots even they had degraded status in churches as Christianity does not allowed them to speak in churches.Hidegard of Bingn, who was born at the end of 11th century and became a nun, later she was known as remarkable and impressive writer but she was plagued with the doubts about her unfeminine activities, she turned to womanly, and specifically maternal experiences and wrote of the Motherhood of God, she writes when a mother offers her weeping child milk, some religion women imagine the infant as Jesus. Later came Margery kempe,a writer who gave an account of her own life. She came up against the painful aspects of motherhood. She was ill all through her first pregnancy and depressed after painful birth of child even she became near to kill herself but she was comforted only ,when she recalls a husband by the vision of Christ.After 14th pregnancy Margery found out the way to deal with her husband demanding that if he stop insisting on sex, she will pay off that feelings of kindness and asked him to forgo her strict Friday fast to eat and drink. He agreed but with irony that” May your body be as freely available to God as it has been to me”. In 15th Century well known …show more content…

Mary Astell was one of the active feminists who throughout time acknowledged the shared problems.In her first book “ A serious Proposal to the Ladies”urging other women to be serious that they must learn to think for them self,to develop their own minds. Mary Wollstonecraft, the great of feminists brought awareness through her writing.Her novel”Vindication of Rights of Women” was published in 1792.Olympe de Gouges issued, “ Declaration of rights of women and female citizen” arguing clearly that women is born free and equal to

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This is important as the change in education implemented the idea that educated women would divert from Christian values but a man strongly opposing the idea dismisses it, and lends a supportive perspective of educated women. However, something that is not showcased in this document is that women were taught theology, basic arithmetic, and language which limited them to their lives at home. Not being so educated in a vast variety of subjects like the men of their times eventually led to the downfall of women. They lost power and and didn’t have a very crucial role in shaping

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One of her main points that would eventually make its way to modern society was the ability for women to go to school and get an education similar to a man’s. She wanted women to be given the same chance as men so that they could prove their worth to everyone. In a scene she wanted the reputation of women being weak and emotional to be destroyed that way women could have rights. In her book written in 1792, “A Vindication for Women’s Rights.”, she wrote, “To render mankind more virtuous, and happier of course, both sexes must act from the same principal;... women must be allowed to find their virtue on knowledge, which is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits [studies] as

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In my opinion, one of the most necessary requirements would be equality for women, no matter the color, religion, etc. In 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft, a writer, philosopher, and women’s rights activist, discussed advice given by a preacher in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She tells us that this preacher believes that women should be kept on a tight leash and kept close, along with many other dense comments. Mary becomes infuriated by this, and then writes one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. She discusses women deserving an education, and that we should not be treated as ornaments.

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As Simone de Beauvoir said that '' one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman''. As we can see, in this periods, male-dominated authorities rendered/defined women in a way how they want for their own interests. Briefly, women were defined/created by men rather than nature which in turn creates a critical question that is what was the women in Early Modern Europe? Wives, mother, daughter, sister; nun, heretic, saint, witch, bitch; queen, martyr, seeker and so forth.

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Religious traditions believed that God made women weaker than men. Many people did not approve of feminists’ innovative ways such as encouraging women to stand out from the crowd and pursue reformation in politics. It is hard for a woman in disadvantaged conditions to receive gender equality in such a patriarchal

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Mary Wollstonecraft was an advocate for women's rights and a writer. She was also the founder of movements and the rights of women. Mary conveyed and spoke out in her published books about injustice and the right to be equal in economics, education, and politics. She like many others during the 17th century spoke up for a greater future in France. Similar to John Locke who was also a philosopher that wanted the idea of a government that protected a person's natural rights including life, liberty, and property.

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In the book of vindication of the right of a woman, Wollstonecraft brings out clearly the roles of a woman in her society and how it has led to oppression of women (Wollstonecraft 22). Wollstonecraft believes that men and women are equal given the same environment and empowerment, women can do anything a man can do. In her society, education for women is only aimed at making her look pleasing to men. Women are treated as inferior being and used by men as sex objects. Wollstonecraft believed that the quality of mind of women is the same with that of men, and therefore women should not be denied a chance for formal education that will empower them to be equal with men.

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Friedan’s Chapter One and Two Karly Marin Sacramento State University Communication Studies Major Gender Ideology Introduction Women play a pivotal role in the growth and development of social, economic and political spheres. There are countable women in the history of the world who have made remarkable contributions to the various spheres. Their accounts are recorded in books, magazines and journals amongst others. The Feminine Mystique is one of the books that received a wide audience in the 1950s.

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One famous instance is Mary Wollstonecraft, who had a child out of wedlock and did not marry the father. Mary was self-educated and supported herself by writing fiction, non-fiction and translating literary works. But what truly makes her stand out was her 18th century book on the rights of women which she stated rights and liberties pertained to everyone, men and women. Another woman who vocal about women’s rights was Abigail Adams who did not hold back any when it came to expressing herself to her husband John Adams. Abigail implored to her husband as he was drafting the Declaration of Independence to not forget women who were a part of the new world and deserved a voice.

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Mary Wollstonecraft’s A vindication of the rights of women written in 1792 can be considered one of the first feminist documents, although the term appeared much later in history. In this essay, Wollstonecraft debates the role of women and their education. Having read different thinkers of the Enlightenment, as Milton, Lord Bacon, Rousseau, John Gregory and others, she finds their points of view interesting and at the same time contrary to values of the Enlightenment when they deal with women’s place. Mary Wollstonecraft uses the ideas of the Enlightenment to demand equal education for men and women. I will mention how ideals of the Enlightenment are used in favor of men but not of women and explain how Wollstonecraft support her “vindication” of the rights of women using those contradictions.

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Mary Wollstonecraft’s, Maria or The Wrongs of Woman, is an analyzation and critique about a woman’s place in society. Specifically, that socially, politically, and economically woman are at a disadvantage. Furthermore, society perpetuates this imbalance through certain expectations about motherhood, marriage, and double standards. This power imbalance has always been present in society and through the analyzation of Maria and themes such as: motherhood, domination, and traditionalist thought it is possible to contextualize the era that Mary Wollstonecraft lived in to gain a better understanding of what women went through in her time so that we have a reference to compare to how women are treated today.

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From the outset, literature and all forms of art have been used to express their author’s feelings, opinions, ideas, and believes. Accordingly, many authors have resorted to their writing to express their feminist ideas, but first we must define what feminism is. According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, feminism is “the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state”. As early as the fifteenth century is possible to find feminist writings. Centuries later, and although she never referred to herself as one, the famous English writer Virginia Woolf became one of the greatest feminist writers of the twentieth

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Throughout the 16th century Reformation through the Enlightenment in the 18th century, was a period of time that saw both change and continuation in European society. One of the biggest examples of this was the role of women and how they should function in European society. Women in this era faced a large amount of hardships and obstacles from great leaders and philosophers such as Martin Luther and Immanuel Kant, who were both against the equality of women to men at this time. From the time period of the 16th century Reformation all the way up to the Enlightenment in the 18th century, the women of Europe were viewed as fragile and unworkable women whose main priority and purpose should only be being a housewife. As time progressed, women

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Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in response to a report to the French National Assembly, which stated that women should only receive a domestic education (Johnson Lewis). She believed that women needed to be educated in order to find their way to equality with men. Wollstonecraft writes in the introduction: “The education of women has, of late, been more attended to than formerly; yet they are still reckoned a frivolous sex, and ridiculed or pitied by the writers who endeavor by satire or instruction to improve

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Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

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