A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Title
A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Description
In A Vindication of the Rights of the Women, written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792, Wollstonecraft responded to the thoughts of some education theorists who didn’t think women should receive proper education. She argued that by giving women proper education, and imparticuarly, educating them together with males starting at a young age, would allow them to reason and fulfile their peculiar duties (Wollstonecraft). Unless women are more educated and “Wollstonecraft responded to the thoughts of some education theorists who didn’t think women should receive proper education. She argued that by giving women proper education, and in particular, educating them together with males starting at a young age, would allow them to reason and fulfill their peculiar duties better (Wollstonecraft). Until women are more educated and “have more understanding, it is vain to expect them to possess domestic taste. Their lively senses will ever be at work to harden their hearts, and the emotions struck out of them will continue to be vivid and transitory, unless a proper education store their mind with knowledge” (Wollstonecraft.) Wollstonecraft also indicated that both sexes would benefit from the education that women received, since “after women being brought up with men, they are prepared to be their companions rather than their mistresses” and are more capable of carrying out their domestic duties. By permitting boys and girls to pursue the same studies together, “the graceful decencies might early be inculcated which produce modesty without those sexual distinctions that taint the mind” (Wollstonecraft).
Wollstonecraft can be considered as a radical feminist during the Enlightenment. She rejected the gender role proposed by Rousseau and strongly promote the equality of men and women. However, because the larger social-historical context, such radical idea of coeducation would receive strong critiques and condemnation. She attempted to avoid this by compromising the education of girls after 9 years old to be separated from boys in the afternoon to be trained in “plain-work, mantua-making, millinery” (Wollstonecraft). However, it is undeniable that Wollstonecraft's theory contributed remarkably to the the rudimentary idea of gender equality in modern days.
Wollstonecraft can be considered as a radical feminist during the Enlightenment. She rejected the gender role proposed by Rousseau and strongly promote the equality of men and women. However, because the larger social-historical context, such radical idea of coeducation would receive strong critiques and condemnation. She attempted to avoid this by compromising the education of girls after 9 years old to be separated from boys in the afternoon to be trained in “plain-work, mantua-making, millinery” (Wollstonecraft). However, it is undeniable that Wollstonecraft's theory contributed remarkably to the the rudimentary idea of gender equality in modern days.
Creator
Mary Wollstonecraft
Source
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Vindication1b.jpg.
Date
1792
Contributor
Changlan Wang
Rights
Public Domain
Citation
Mary Wollstonecraft, “A Vindication of the Rights of Women,” HIST 139 - Early Modern Europe, accessed July 20, 2025, https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/284.