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writerbeverly 's review for:
Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by Mary Shelley
Written in the late 1790's... Life and language is very different than when this was written. I still wanted to read it, as the first feminist manifesto, but lacking the context of what life was like then, I struggled a bit.
Additionally, the author's ideas about how life should change for women were based on and directed toward a narrow subset of women - upper class Englishwomen. Not the nobility, not the merchant or working class, nor the poor.
She seemed to have a deep loathing of Rousseau, who took up considerable space in this work despite having been dead a decade or two. It felt like she both despised women who were frivolous and too much occupied with dress and outward appearance, while simultaneously pitying them because, what else did they have to do? She also had harsh words for libertines.
I found it interesting that she barely touched on something we consider a basic right, in the last century, the right to vote (and serve in public office). Possibly that felt like a bridge too far to argue for, in that era. I am glad I read it, because classic, but can't say I really *enjoyed* it. What I missed in it was even a hint of humor.
Additionally, the author's ideas about how life should change for women were based on and directed toward a narrow subset of women - upper class Englishwomen. Not the nobility, not the merchant or working class, nor the poor.
She seemed to have a deep loathing of Rousseau, who took up considerable space in this work despite having been dead a decade or two. It felt like she both despised women who were frivolous and too much occupied with dress and outward appearance, while simultaneously pitying them because, what else did they have to do? She also had harsh words for libertines.
I found it interesting that she barely touched on something we consider a basic right, in the last century, the right to vote (and serve in public office). Possibly that felt like a bridge too far to argue for, in that era. I am glad I read it, because classic, but can't say I really *enjoyed* it. What I missed in it was even a hint of humor.