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labelledamesansmerci's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Only facts written in this book. Can't tell my girl Mary nothing. She really was all that.
devind9bde's review
5.0
After reading these three works from the late 1700s, I have to say, they’re still relevant. They’re depressingly relevant in fact, because many of the issues she dealt with remain intractable.
It’s also very instructive to see how she approached the topic from her time period and perspective. If you’re interested in feminism or justice for mankind, this book will be one you eventually come across. It deals with a very interesting historical time period, and for readers today the writing is still sharp and direct.
It’s also very instructive to see how she approached the topic from her time period and perspective. If you’re interested in feminism or justice for mankind, this book will be one you eventually come across. It deals with a very interesting historical time period, and for readers today the writing is still sharp and direct.
lieslindi's review
Book Riot Read Harder 2016: Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes
bexpendragon's review
5.0
A must-read for anyone interested in Feminism and/or the Women's Movement. I've been anxious to read Mary Wollstonecraft's complete work since my first year Women's Studies class. I read a selection from A Vindication in second year, and now in forth I'm finally getting my chance to read A Vindication in its entirety.
Wollstonecraft sets up her argument by explaining that the only things that make men superior to women are their physical strength and education. If women could be encouraged to be physically active (instead of just swooning on their fainting couches) and be given a useful education (instead of just being taught to be pretty and pleasing), they could stand a fighting chance.
Favourite quotation: "Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage only seeks to adorn its prison." (Page 59.)
Wollstonecraft sets up her argument by explaining that the only things that make men superior to women are their physical strength and education. If women could be encouraged to be physically active (instead of just swooning on their fainting couches) and be given a useful education (instead of just being taught to be pretty and pleasing), they could stand a fighting chance.
Favourite quotation: "Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage only seeks to adorn its prison." (Page 59.)
alikath's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I read this for a class but I did enjoy it. I found some of the ideas within this book really interesting. The reason I didn't rate this higher is that I personally found some of the writing to be a bit repetitive and clearly some of the ideas in this book are outdated. There is still some expectation that women and men are inherently different while I think the modern idea is more that there may be some physical differences between men and women but most differences we see is more the result of societal influence rather than inherent differences.
Wollstonecraft proposes education and education of boys and girls together as being the solution to a lot of problems with inequality. While I don't disagree with education being very helpful with promoting equality and probably at the time, fighting for girls to have access to education was very important and novel, I do think that now that we, at least in the U.S., have an education system that does educate girls and boys together, it is clear that it takes more than integration to promote equality between men and women.
I did really enjoy reading some early theory on this topic but I definitely can get a little frustrated when I'm reading theory that is so clearly outdated, especially when I am not super familiar with the theory expanding on a topic that came later. I would recommend this book. It has a lot of influential and interesting ideas. Just know that feminist political theory has advanced after this book was written.
I read this for a class but I did enjoy it. I found some of the ideas within this book really interesting. The reason I didn't rate this higher is that I personally found some of the writing to be a bit repetitive and clearly some of the ideas in this book are outdated. There is still some expectation that women and men are inherently different while I think the modern idea is more that there may be some physical differences between men and women but most differences we see is more the result of societal influence rather than inherent differences.
Wollstonecraft proposes education and education of boys and girls together as being the solution to a lot of problems with inequality. While I don't disagree with education being very helpful with promoting equality and probably at the time, fighting for girls to have access to education was very important and novel, I do think that now that we, at least in the U.S., have an education system that does educate girls and boys together, it is clear that it takes more than integration to promote equality between men and women.
I did really enjoy reading some early theory on this topic but I definitely can get a little frustrated when I'm reading theory that is so clearly outdated, especially when I am not super familiar with the theory expanding on a topic that came later. I would recommend this book. It has a lot of influential and interesting ideas. Just know that feminist political theory has advanced after this book was written.
cherrycola's review
4.0
This was an interesting look at the first ripple of the first wave of Western feminism, before suffrage, before the pill, before any of that. Some of this is naturally outdated, and Wollstonecraft's love of excruciatingly long sentences made my eyes glaze over more than once, but I'm still glad I read it and quite a bit still stands up to the modern reader.
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