1168 Wollstonecraft, Mary
education,” where it is thought that women’s learn-
ing is seen only in terms of the education of their
husbands, Wollstonecraft argues that women need
to develop their own minds. She felt that educated
women’s minds were not healthy, meaning that
women continued to be in the miserable state of
“meek wives and dutiful mothers.” But by asserting
their own rational minds, women could be viewed as
educated beings in their own right and affectionate
and rational companions to their husbands.
Wollstonecraft also speaks to this concept of
asserting women’s rational minds with regard to
parenting. Because mothers serve as sole educators
to children, she views women as an important part
of the education of women. While women could be
content playing the role of a meek wife and mother,
Wollstonecraft asks women to do otherwise and
to be intelligent on their own, rather than as an
extension of their husbands. In fact, she writes that
education from an early age could challenge the
assumption that women are meek and not rational
creatures. She advocates for mothers and fathers
to use education and to teach their daughters to
develop their own minds. Wollstonecraft was a pio-
neer in suggesting that girls should have the same
access to education as boys. At the time when she
was writing, many philosophers were not even will-
ing to consider a coeducational system and found
this to be a radical notion. However, Wollstonecraft
was firm in her assertion that children, both girls
and boys, deserved equal access to education.
Another prevailing idea at the time was that if
women were allowed education, then they would
have power. Specifically, wives would have power
over their husbands. However, in A Vindication,
Wollstonecraft never advocates for education of
women so they might have power over men; rather,
she wants women to seek out education so that they
may have power over themselves. Wollstonecraft
firmly believes that education in and of itself is
power, and she recognizes the importance of women
using their minds to become educated and therefore
empowered.
Finally, drawing together all of the points made
thus far, it is logical to gather that for Wollstone-
craft, education brings about equality. Being able
to be a companion in marital relationships, to teach
children the importance of a sound rational mind,
to have equal access to educational programs, and
to empower oneself will inevitably lead to a larger
sense of equality. Wollstonecraft envisions women
as independent, educated, and equal to men, and
A Vindication is evidence of how the early seeds of
radical thinking can make small, yet resounding,
changes for equality.
A Vindication of the Rights of Women still stands
as one of the most powerful early feminist writings
in requesting equality for women through education.
By emphasizing the theme of education throughout
Wollstonecraft’s writing, we can understand it to be
one means through which equality can be obtained.
Wollstonecraft reminds us that men are not the only
humans capable of rational thought. By suppressing
women’s potential and forcing them into meek and
helpless roles, men continue to exert power over
women. Through education, women can strengthen
their minds, teach children through example, and
firmly hold equal ground with men.
Adrienne BruneetHIcS in A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman
In her stunning 1792 treatise on the rights of
women, Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women
should be educated and given rights equal to men,
she makes this argument ethically. It should be
done, she says, because it is the right thing to do.
In Wollstonecraft’s time, women were severely
limited in the ways in which they were allowed to
participate in society. Legally, they were the property
of their husbands; they could not inherit property or
own property. Socially, they were required to do no
more than please their husbands, leading to women
Wollstonecraft calls “spaniel-like,” implying that
this relationship was more like master and pet than
husband and wife.
Throughout her long essay, Wollstonecraft relies
on logic that insists it is immoral to keep women
imprisoned this way. She says, “There must be more
equality established in society, or morality will never
gain ground.” She goes on to say that if one half of
humanity is “chained,” they will drive society down
by their being unable to comprehend what is right
and what is wrong. Wollstonecraft makes a clever