Mary WOLLSTONECRAFT and feminism

We dedicate this lesson from a TEACHER to Mary Wollstonecraft, English philosopher of the 18th century, and one of the most outstanding figures of modern thought. She dedicated her life to defending the rights of women, rejecting the idea of ​​their inferiority with respect to men. If there are differences, she assured her, it is not by nature, but by having received a different education.

His work “Vindication of women's rights” (1792), establishes the foundations ofmodern feminismand made her one of the most popular women in Europe at the time. Wollstonecraft married the anarchist philosopher William Godwin, and they had a daughter, Mary Shelley, the author of “Frankenstein”. If you want to know more about Mary Wollstonecraft and feminism, she continues to read this lesson from a TEACHER.

Index

1. Mary Wollstonecraft, pioneer of modern feminism
2. Reflections on the education of daughters (1787)
3. Original stories (1788)
4. Vindication of the rights of man (1790)
5. Vindication of women's rights (1792)

Wollstonecraft was born on April 27, 1759 in the bosom of a family, which despite her income, was going through financial difficulties due to the excesses of her father, drunk and abusive. From a very young age, she protected her mother and her sisters, convincing even one of them, Elizaher, so that she would abandon her husband and their baby after a postpartum depression. There is no doubt that with this gesture, she was giving a pulse to a patriarchal and macho society, although unfortunately, she condemned her for life. She was unable to remarry, and consequently, she was a victim of utter poverty.

There were two, the friends of Wollstonecraft who marked her youth. TO Jane arden he met her in Berverley and dedicates these words to her:

"Certain romantic notions of friendship have formed in me... I am a bit peculiar in my understanding of love and friendship; I have to have first place or none."

She subsequently befriends Fanny blood, that although at first, Wollstonecraft claimed that the woman had opened her mind, later admit to having idealized it, since Blood defended the values ​​that, culturally, are considered feminine.

Fanny blood she marries Hugh skeys and she becomes pregnant, which only made her deteriorating health worse. She dies in childbirth and this event, which will mark Wollstonecraft forever, inspires her first work, Reflections on the education of daughters (1787).

To get closer to the feminism by Mary Wollstonecraft, we offer you a summary of the main works of the philosopher.

Image: Women in History

To understand the relationship between Mary Wollstonecraft and feminism it is important to pay attention to her texts. This early work by Mary Wollstonecraft is intended as a guide to how to educate daughters, both from the point of view of morals, as in social affairs, such as the clothes they should wear or how they should act in public.

The work, which enchanted the middle class, because it reflected the ideas of a new sector of society, which rejected conventional values of the aristocracy.

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It is the only work of children's literature of Mary Wollstonecraft and has illustrations by William Blake. The book tells the story of two sisters raised by a mother, reflecting the traditional values ​​of the time, like virtue. Against this, the philosopher advocates a education based on reason, so that women can become adult and rational human beings.

“ANDThese conversations and stories reflect the current situation in society; this forces the author to try to remedy these defects through reason, since they should never have been established in the minds of the girls ".

Wollstonecraft writes this work in response to the Reflections on the French Revolution fromEdmundBurke, and in it, he not only questions the author's ideas, but also his conception of beauty and the sublime, the first of the attributes, related to the feminine and the weak, and the second to the masculine and the strong.

Wollstonecraft criticizes Burke's reflections against the revolutionaries and in favor of Marie Antoinette. She does not have, Burke, says the feminist thinker, the same benevolence towards poor women in France.

"Such misery demands more than tears — I pause to remind myself — you must always analyze any situation rationally.."

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We finish this lesson on Mary Wollstonecraft and feminism to talk about another of the philosopher's works. This work is a vindication of women's rights but also of their obligations, since as the author points out, both are closely linked, because "without rights there can be no obligation. "

Women, says Wollstonecraft in Vindication of women's rights, They can participate in social affairs, in the same way that a man does, but for this they have to be educated from reason, and not from passion, unlike thinkers like Rousseau, who denies such need.

If women are stupid and superficial, says Wollstonecraft, it is because of their upbringing, being

"(...) eNamed from their childhood that beauty is the scepter of women, the mind conforms to the body and, wandering in her golden cage, only seeks to adorn her prison”.

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If you want to read more articles similar to Mary Wollstonecraft and feminism, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

Wollstonecraft, M. Original stories. Ed. Ed. Jazzybee Verlag, 2017

Wollstonecraft, M. Vindication of women's rights. Ed. Ed. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España, 2020