Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman

It was not until 1916 that women had the right to vote in certain provinces and a couple of years later in 1929 when they were considered “persons” in Canada. Women around the world have been fighting for equality for years. One of the leaders in that fight during the 18th century was Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft, an English writer, was well known for being one of the biggest advocates for women’s rights. Her novel titled Vindication of the rights of woman illustrates her ideas that helped assist women in the fight for liberty. In the book, Wollstonecraft makes counter arguments writers such as Rousseau, Dr. Fordyce, and Dr. Gregory who believe that women have a sole purpose in society to please their male counterparts. Wollstonecraft …show more content…
This analogy illustrates the restraint and unethical treatment that women had to endure under the control of men. Wollstonecraft believes that when men get married, they look for someone who is quiet and obedient rather than someone who is compassionate and caring (Wollstonecraft 2007, pg 115). This can possibly lead to women believing that the only way to get married is to sacrifice their free will and provide pleasure to the man that they married. Women were not able to express their true emotions or act as they would wish to such as contributing to the marriage by pursuing a career in the work sector of their choice. The false thinking of man always being right regardless of the circumstance, and that a woman’s role is to provide pleasure for him eliminates her right to free will. For example, Dr. Fordyce claims that a man should never have to admit they are wrong and says that women are at fault when they do not receive the same amount of attention as a man (Wollstonecraft 2007, pg.120)* This illustrates that women are restrained from expressing their free will since it interferes with men ever being wrong in any circumstances and women being acknowledged equally. Another reason goes back to how both genders are raised. With the boys are being viewed as physical with sports and loud noises while the girls are viewed as loving to play with dolls and liking it quiet, they thought of being quiet and treating men as a superior somewhat established in their minds already at a very young age (Wollstonecraft 2007, pg 105). Even in society today, most of the toys that were given to girls were miniature houses that they had to take care of and even fake kitchen equipment. Therefore, even the idea of having to be in charge of cooking and cleaning for the house has been exposed