A Vindication of the Rights of Women Essay A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft is one of the earliest works of feminist ideals. In the text, Wollstonecraft deeply responds and criticizes many influential political theoreticians from the 18th century who did not believe that women should have the same basic rights as men. Her arguments vary from how women should contribute to society to how women should be treated in a relationship. All of her viewpoints not only played a crucial role in the feminist movement of her time, but also helped pave the way for modern feminist movements. One of the main points that Wollstonecraft touches upon in A Vindication of the Rights of Women is the issue regarding women and education.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s literature is based on women’s issues. She wrote fiction mainly depicting her social ideas. In her works, she portrays women struggling to achieve personal autonomy, adapting to independence, and challenging accepted images of women. In her novel Women and Economics, Gilman argues that women need to change their identities in society in order to be equal to men and become part of the world’s evolution. In addition, her novel Herland depicts women at their true, full potential in roles equal to men.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women to have legal rights, have better jobs, and higher education, even though many men shunned her. First off, many women fought against the laws that discriminated against them. In 1848, Stanton met with four other women for a social meeting. They decided to form a convention and get together to “discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women (Brown).” This convention was called The Seneca Falls Convention. The women campaigned for full female equality.
The Power of the Positive Woman It is common in American society to hear about the rise of American Feminism and the fight for Women’s Rights. The one topic that seems to be skimmed over is the women who were against this era of feminism, and how they believed it would destroy the American family. One of these women was Phyllis Schlafly, and she was not shy about writing her feelings towards the women liberationists. She wrote many books and essays including Feminist Fantasies, The Power of the Positive Woman, and “Who Will Rock the Cradle”, just to name a few. In The Power of the Positive Woman, Schlafly explains that there is indeed a difference, besides the obvious physicality, between men and woman that cause them to play different roles in society.
It was in the early 1800s when women began to question various issues such as their roles in society and their rights as a woman, or their lack of rights and unjust inequality in comparison to males. Interestingly though in 1792Marry Wollstonecraft, who was a significant driving force in the women’s right movement, wrote “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). In her book she argued that women were rational beings who should be able to be educated, earn their own livings, and develop their characters “regardless of the distinction of sex” (pg 24 Alison M Parker). Then in 1820 the activist Frances Wright went on to further publicize her work. At the time Frances Wright was best known for being a early proponent of the notion that marriage was a form of cohesive bondage for women, who there thereby denied the right to inheritances, wages, and joint guardianship of their children.
Jill Tweedy 1932- 1993 was also an influential feminist writer. Wollstonecraft’s polemic, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ and Tweedy’s ‘In the Name of Love’. Both these extracts show how these female writers can write from both genders; female and male. They can bring across different views and thoughts throughout their extracts. A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ is an early example of a feminist outlook; Wollstonecraft aims to define, establish and defend equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women.
“The steady pressure by the moderate Suffragists was the most important reason for the achievement of votes for women by 1918.” How accurate is this view? ESSAY PLAN – INTRO AND CONCLUSION CAN BE COPIED OUT. MAKE SURE TO GIVE SUFFICIENT DETAIL FOR THE POINTS SUGGESTED AND KEEP LINKING BACK TO THE ESSAY TITLE. The enfranchisement of many women over 30 in 1918, and all women over 21 in 1928 was the culmination of a long arduous struggle by many to achieve greater equality for women by granting them the vote. The relentless, legitimate campaigning of the moderate Suffragists had undoubtedly made a great contribution to this achievement but debate still rages over the relative merits of this, as well as the actions of the militant Suffragettes
Women like Emma Hart Willard who founded the Troy Female Seminary in New York which was the first endowed school for girls, helped empower women to see that there can be change. Women began speaking and lecturing in the 1830s on equality and right to vote. Sarah Grimke and Frances Wright advocated women's suffrage in an extensive series of lectures. Sarah Grimke spoke with a concise confidence responding to a newspaper, “All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from our necks, and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God has designed us to occupy.” (Chafe 25) “[Also Grimke wrote that] like blacks women were ‘accused of mental inferiority’ and were refused the opportunity for a decent education. Denied the basic rights of free speech and petition, they were also treated as creatures not able to care for themselves.” (Chafe 45) Oberlin College became the first coeducational college in
True Womanhood exemplified in “Light in the Darkness: A Sketch from Life” Women tend to put pressure on themselves to fit the mould of an idealistic woman- whether it's being the perfect mother, wife, sister, and daughter. Even in the mid-nineteenth century, women were expected to exemplify the attributes of True Womanhood in order to maintain a perfect image. According to Barbara Welter, “True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbours and society could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (152). Women from this time period are expected to behave according to these virtues, and also to embrace the “angel of the house” ideal. A woman lacking these virtues is severely looked down upon by society, and is considered a “fallen angel”.
Both groups of women were campaigning and fighting for the same thing, but the way they achieved the vote was very different. First of all the Suffragists only protested and campaigned without violence and they were law abiding. They thought that they should prove to the men that they were responsible and could act in a civilised manner. The Suffragists held meetings all over the country, they held over 1,300 meetings in 1877-78. You would have found that most of the campaigners were middle class women.