Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman"
For those of you who have never heard of Mary Wollstonecraft, please, do
yourself a favor and read a little bit. Wollstonecraft was writing in
1792!
"Women are, in common with men, rendered weak and luxurious by relaxing pleasures which wealth
procures; but added to this they are made slaves to their persons, and
must render them alluring that man may lend them his reason to guide
their tottering steps aright. Or should they be ambitious, they must
govern their tyrants by sinister tricks, for without rights there cannot
be incumbent duties. The laws respecting woman...make an absurd unit of
man and his wife; and then, by the easy transition of only considering
him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cipher."
Sure,
things have changed, but in many ways, have they? Just look at the
current war on women's reproductive rights--who are the "deciders?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I'm so glad you are pointing another generation to Mary Wollstonecraft. Her writing never grows stale. You may care to know that I set up a blog in her honour, A Vindication of the Rights of Mary , and your thoughts would be very welcome there.
ReplyDelete