Nigerian Feminist Analysis

Throughout this text, Wollstonecraft discusses how close-minded society was about women and equality. She describes society as being under the impression that women and men were two different animals. Society also believed that men were free and logical thinkers that could rule and change society while women were seen as pretty objects that could bear children. Wollstonecraft’s feminist view discusses that the problem was not only men inhibiting women, but women themselves were also not pushing against the ideology that men were superior. She continues to explain her new feminist ideology that discusses changes in society that would create equality.

These men attacked the despotism of kings and rejected the institution of slavery but endorsed the subordination of some human beings to others on the basis of gender (Kidner, 523). Mainly her argument was that if women had the same opportunities and education as men they would not be inferior to men. Even so, Wollstonecraft also believed that mothers should continue to be the nurturing factor in their children’s

One of the principal projects of and strategies of A Vindication of the Rights of Women is to turn

The Women’s Suffrage Movement was the seventy two year fight and movement leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment that granted women the right to vote. Before the nineteenth century, women were seen as property of their father or husband, and it was not until the mid-1800’s that women began to gain rights similar to men. Women had sought to obtain additional rights held already by men. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul were among the many women that led and fought for equal rights and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Women in the United States had little to no rights in comparison to men until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment was signed, giving women their deserved rights that allowed

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is a treatise written by Mary Wollstonecraft focusing on overcoming the ways in which women in her time are oppressed and denied their potential in society, with problems for their households and society as a whole. This is a dedication to the late bishop of Autun Charles M. Talleyrand-Perigord whose views on female education were distasteful to Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft begins with setting out her view that the one which is greatly to be blame for the condition of the adult women is the neglect-ion of girl’s education. Women are treated as subordinate beings who are only concerned about being attractive, meek and elegant or in other word, they are only concerned about beauty.

In an excerpt from her 1792 treatise, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, novelist, philosopher, and women’s rights champion Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women must be educated if they want to make important decisions in society and within the home. She begins by discussing the corrupt and confining divisions in society. While there are a few ways for men to creep out of their predetermined ranks and futures, for women this is a nearly insurmountable task, she claims. She says that just legislation is aimed at promoting public good, but that women do not neatly fit into this equation. Many male philosophers believe that women should stay in the home and live lives of propriety, she relates.

Wollstonecraft was an extremely educated woman, and she felt that if all women had the opportunities she did, more of them would turn into great and productive members of society. In her mind, all of women's worst qualities come from the fact that they lack proper education and are taught only to care about superficial things, if women had proper training in maths, philosophy, art, and science. Wollstonecraft`s is confident that they could become every bit as good as

(Vindication of the rights of a woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, ch 2, pg). She calls all these prejudices against women. She believes that We will not know about women’s capabilities until they are not given the same respect and education as it is given to men. In Wollstonecraft’s time society was a way long from achieving this goal. She claims that if men are truly superior to let them prove it by providing them an equal playing field for women.

She said that an educational system where girls could be educated just like boys would result in women being wives, mothers but also workers in many professions Other early feminist had tried to change that, but Wollstonecraft’s work was unique, she had said that women’s status would be affected through political change. A change like this would benefit everyone. Wollstonecraft’s work A Vindication of The Rights of Woman had failed to bring up any immediate reforms. However, in the 1840s American and English women’s movements adapted some of the principles in her

Women should have the rights to educate themselves or have importance in a political view. Mary Wollstonecraft wanted to empower female equality during the seventeenth century because she was driven by independence and knowledge. Mary Wollstonecraft explained well that youth and beauty does not last a lifetime; furthermore, Wollstonecraft wanted women to drive women to go to school to have more knowledge than to be narrow minded. Mary Wollstonecraft’s intellect was a prime example of independence and knowledge that should inspire any woman to pursue higher standards and to help rather than depend on their husbands.

Wollstonecraft believed that her vision towards equality for women, by removing the power that men had in society, would truly end the segregation as men would not have dominance over women (Teachers Curriculum Institute, n.d.). She strongly believed that power had an influence towards the rights of women and she stated in her book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)’ “Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that tyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously assert that women ought to be subjected because she has always been so… It is time to affect a revolution in female manners-time to restore to them their lost dignity… It is time to separate unchangeable, morals from local manners,” (Anonymous,

Wollstonecraft’s powerful literary work presents rational principles so women can liberate themselves from oppression. Specifically, a social construct in which women were second tier to men in every aspect of their lives. Wollstonecraft argues that both men and women were born with the right to reason, and that women should have access to the same education, power, and influence in society as men do. During this time period, education played a strong role in women appearing unintelligent due to their lack of proper education. Wollstonecraft believes that if women have the same opportunities as men and proper training in math, philosophy, and science, then they could become productive and influential members of society.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is Mary Wollstonecraft’s response to educational theorists during the 18th century who did not believe women should receive an education. In it, she argues that women deserve to have an education that corresponds with their position in society; women are essential to the nation because they educate its children as well as “companions” to their husbands. Wollstonecraft goes on to say that women are not arm candy, or property to be traded; we are human beings who deserve the same treatment as men. Wollstonecraft was ahead of her time, yet, she cannot be classified as a modern day feminist since the definition of feminism varies and the terms “feminist” and “feminism” were not coined until the 1890s (Feminist and Feminism). There was also no women’s rights movement during his lifetime.

Mary Wollstonecraft is a woman known particularly for her avocation of women’s rights. The book A Vindication of the Rights of Women, With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects in today’s time is considered to be the first book written on the idea of feminism and expressed the ideals of feminist ideas. This book specifically addresses the need for women to be educated alongside men, and the nature of gender differences. There have been in the past others who have took a stand on this issue, but Wollstonecraft shaped an exposition for the women in her generation of Britain, who dealt with oppression that limited their chance in society, and restricted them to the household where women were placed. This essay will discuss Wollstonecraft’s

1.3.3 Second Wave Feminism Second Wave Feminism is more radical in its thought and formation. Apart from blaming the institutions, it attacks the basic meanings of ‘man’ and ‘woman’. Second Wave Feminists focused on a broad range of issues in the 1960s, 70s and early 80 are including discrimination in workplaces and in broader society. Some of the key struggles were around affirmative action, pay equity, rape, domestic violence, pornography and sexism in the media, and reproductive choice. The fight for reproductive choice included a fight to have information about, and access to, birth control (selling or promoting birth control was illegal in Canada until 1969) as well as the struggle to decriminalize abortion.