Vindication of the Rights of Women with Structures on Political and Moral Subjects - Essay Example

of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects One of the most influential works that have been written in the history of political literature, Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects was one of the earliest works that looked at the conditions that women lived in. it is thus one of the earliest works to articulate feminist sentiments. The work looks at the different aspects of women’s life that leads to a second-class position in society. The work seeks to look at those aspects of social life that form the basis of oppression for women and the reason why women are considered to be less worthy than their male counterparts. One of the most important things to remember about this work is the fact that it was written following the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a much feared event in England, where Mary Wollstonecraft hailed from. The possibility of revolution was something that the English aristocracy feared to a great extent. This fear influenced many of their worldviews and beliefs. However, it was important to many members of the intelligentsia as a result of the liberal philosophy that it espoused. This work comes in the backdrop of the continuing French Revolution that was based on the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. It is also based on these ideals as it talks through several perspectives for the development of equality for women in regard to their male counterparts in the society. It also seeks to counteract those notions that enable such a denigration of the roles that women play in the society. This is then something that needs to be analyzed in a more minute manner. This paper shall look at the different issues that Wollstonecraft brings into her discussion of gender and her critique of patriarchal social relations as they existed in England during the time of her writing this work. The work also needs to be seen in terms of the legacy of the Augustan age when reason was considered to be the most important faculties of mankind. Wollstonecraft draws on reason as the basis of the society that she envisages for mankind and also looks at reason as the way out for the patriarchal conundrum that women were faced with. This is the basis of the rights that she envisages for women. This is significant as it is a break away from the tradition-oriented debates that were common in England at the time of the French Revolution. English conservative politicians had begun to extol the virtues of traditions at a time when they were being threatened by the revolutionary fervor that was present in France. This was detrimental to the condition of women as their rights were being curtailed in England as a result of this insistence on tradition as well. This is one of the reasons as to why it was important for a work of this kind to come out at this point of time in history, especially in England. This insistence on tradition is then countered using the notion of reason as it was prevalent in England. Despite having said this, the spirit of the work derived from the ideas of freedom that emanated from the French Revolution. It is in this relation that one needs to look at the arguments that are advanced in favor of education by the author. She talks of education as the means through which women can be empowered. She advances the notion that this would enable them to think independently and understand the value of reason and understanding. This would also, according to her, help women to nurture their children better. She says, Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be inefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice. And how can woman be expected to cooperate unless she know why she ought to be virtuous? Unless freedom strengthen her reason till she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is connected with her real good? If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly train of virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and civil interest of mankind; but the education and situation of woman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations (Wollstonecraft). This insistence on education is however, problematic as it talks of the need for education only in terms of its importance as a tool for motherhood. This then again placed women in their traditional role of the mother. This would then again play into the hands of patriarchy and the different power structures that it erected. The conceptualization of women in this passage is still in terms of their role as mothers. The role that is then given to them is that of a nurturing and caring figure who is defined in terms of her ability to take care of her children. One must however, also take into account the fact that Wollstonecraft was writing during a point of time when any kind of emancipatory movement had not taken place for the benefit of women. This attempt on the part of Wollstonecraft would then be one that is replete with problems. This however should not take away from the revolutionary nature of her work. Her work is different from those works that sought to make women look like people who were not capable of rational thought at all. There were several such books that came out during this period of time. The author’s attempt is to change such perceptions through an understanding of women as people who were equally capable of rational thought. It is also to point out how there could be progress in society only if women were allowed to develop their inherent faculties of rational thought through a system of education that permitted it. it is thus, on education that the author places a great deal of stress. There are certain notions of beauty that are forced upon women according to the author. This happens, according to Wollstonecraft, early on when the person is still quite young. This then makes it difficult for such notions and ideas to be displaced at a later age. Women are encouraged to think of their beauty as something that is the only aspect of their person that they need to take care of. This is then looked upon as the only aspect of themselves that would help them find a suitable match. This was important in an age where property was not given to women to control. Women then had to depend on finding a husband to take care of them so as to ensure economic protection of a certain kind. Beauty then becomes nothing more than a commodity that would ensure a better match in the society that they were a part of. This is then critiqued through this work when she says, False notions of beauty and delicacy stop the growth of their limbs and produce a sickly soreness, rather than delicacy of organs; and thus weakened by being employed in unfolding instead of examining the first associations, forced on them by every surrounding object, how can they attain the vigour necessary to enable them to throw off their factitious character? (Wollstonecraft). What Wollstonecraft is doing is to then attempt to upset conventional notions of gender relations and the aspects of society that serve to hold such gender relations intact. Such attempts are enabled by an insistence on republicanism as a virtue. She writes her text with a view to overthrowing certain forms of tradition as far as gender is concerned. This is also fuelled by a greater desire to overthrow all forms of traditional government. This is not to say that she favored anarchist forms of government. What she does at this point of time is to talk of a certain overthrow of traditional structures of the society. This would then change the way the society is structured, gender relations being an important part of that collection of structures. The breaking down of a particular set of structures is then seen as a precursor to the breaking down of the other structures. This is significant in a society where there was very little scope for change in gender relations through the clause of feminist intervention. It is thus through a republican agenda that the author manages to create a space for women in the larger political space that was opening up for people in England at this point of time in history. Her work thus needs to be seen as one that is both republican and feminist. It is an important question to look at whether this work is relevant from the point of view of a person living in the twenty first century. A person living in the twenty first century already has certain notions regarding feminism and what a nation state should be like. This is very different from the circumstances that Mary Wollstonecraft had to face when she wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects. However, even today, there are certain notions that are passed on to women at a very early age. These notions often make then incapable of learning certain ideas of independence later on in life. For instance, even today, there are notions of beauty that are inculcated in women when they are young girls. This makes it impossible in certain situations to correct. In certain cases, they are also not thought of as capable of making rational decisions for themselves. All of these make it clear that despite an advancement in terms of the kind of discursive thought that one finds in feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas are still relevant. This makes it possible for an understanding of feminism in terms of the history that it has traversed. The ideas regarding education that Wollstonecraft talks of are still extremely relevant, albeit in different ways. While she talks of education as necessary for the nurture of children, contemporary feminist have argued for the need for education so as to enable an independent subjectivity for women. This then leads one to think of the millions of women in different parts of the world who are denied education and are expected to do nothing but stay within their households. They are expected to not make their own economic, cultural or political choices and exist in a state of unfreedom. This makes the situation that Wollstonecraft talked of very immediate even for a readership that lives in the twenty first century. In many parts of the world including in what is known as the ‘first world’ women are denied education in large numbers. This situation of being in fetters is something that Wollstonecraft talks about in her work. Wollstonecraft appealed to an emergent middle class in her work. In the twenty first century, the middle class is however well established and no longer is it an emergent class of people. Ideas of liberalism have come and gone to a certain extent. They have become a part of the ethos of the people in the world and therefore, feminism too has. This is not to say that Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects is not important in today’s world. It is important as a result of the fact that it occupies a significant place in the history of literature that has tried to secure a place for women in the social fabrics of the world. In as much as that is true, the text is relevant even for a twenty first century readership. Works Cited Wollstonecraft, Mary. Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. Read More