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Women In Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman?

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Since the beginning of time, women have been viewed as the weaker sex; because of this, women have been cheated of their basic human rights. These are the same rights that men have always seen as a given for the male sex. These rights include: the right to education, to work, to have a voice, to vote, and many more. Throughout time, women have always had to fight for the same basic human rights to make them equivalent to man.
In Mary Wollstonecraft’s book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman her argument is that woman have always been viewed as the weaker sex. She goes on to say that she hopes this changes for woman and her biggest argument is that woman deserve the same educational opportunities as men. Although she was arguing that woman …show more content…

Many men believe that women were put on the planet to serve man, so they believed that a woman would be flattered or happy when a man degrades her. Molly supports this idea by stating “I lament the fact that women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions that men think it manly to pay to the female sex, when in fact they are insultingly supporting their own superiority. There is nothing graceful about bowing to an inferior, which is what a man must think he is doing when he bows to a woman” (39). This quote is stating that woman do not find men’s advances towards them flattering. They actually found it degrading, but since woman were not allowed to say anything because they were made out to be the lesser of the two sexes, they had to deal with the trivial …show more content…

From being able to vote, being able to call themselves independent, being able to have the same educational opportunities that men were provided, and so many more. It happened and is still happening all over the world. As long as men and women both walk the planet, no matter how hard we women fight for equality, we will never be fully equal to man. Though we have won many long battles that at the time probably seemed endless, we are still viewed as a lesser gender. Men have always believed that they should “own” a woman and her body, that a woman should only care about pleasing her man and her family. Women are so much more than that, and Molly Wollstonecraft was a strong advocate for woman, with very strong opinions. For a woman to have an opinion this strong, and for her to publish a piece about it during this time period was not common, since as Molly stated, women were not allowed an opinion. This piece shows that throughout history women have always had to fight for the same basic rights to make us equal to

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Today, most would think that all humans have equal rights. Unfortunately, though, women are still not treated as equal as men. Women do not get paid as much as men do, they are expected to stay home and take care of the children, and they do not have as many job opportunities as men do. All of this is in spite of the fact that women have been fighting for their rights in this country since the 1800s. Two of the most widely known speeches are “Ain’t I a Woman” and “Speech at Seneca Falls Convention.”

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Wollstonecraft strongly believed,“...both sexes must act from the same principle…” (Doc D) Wollstonecraft strongly wanted both sexes to follow the same criteria and be given the same educational rights, so that women could be wiser and more virtuous. Wollstonecraft and Locke both believed that all should be equal and this supports that women are one of the groups besides religion that were not given as many rights as others. She also thought,“... women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge...to full fill their peculiar duties...to free them from all restraint…”

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Philosophers believed that men act like tyrants and act immature so they need to change their ways. In Document F-1 Mary Wollstonecraft says “But if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from participation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to ward of the charge… there is not a shadow of justification for not admitting women under the same.” Wollstonecraft is fighting for equality, believes the only reason women are not equal is based off of old tradition, and it is time for change.

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The main argument was woman can everything man can do. The purpose it was written was the failure of the French Constitution to give woman rights. Wollstonecraft saying that woman need to educate their children and be the best wife to their husband as can be. Wollstonecraft wrote, “But few parents are willing to receive the respectful affection of their offspring on such terms. They demand blind obedience, because they do not merit a reasonable service: and to render these demands of weakness and ignorance more binding, a mysterious sanctity is spread round the most arbitrary principle;”(CH 11) (Pg 2) Wollstonecraft is advocating that if woman do not have an education they will feel like they don’t have anything quality to teach her children, so then her children will not respect her.

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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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