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A review by katnissevergreen
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
3.0
",,,what were we created for? To remain it may be said, innocent; they mean in a state of childhood. - We might as well have never been born, unless it were necessary that we should be created to enable men to acquire the noble privilege of reason, the power of discerning good from evil, whilst we lie down in the dust from when we were taken, never to rise again."
"Pleasure prepares the fading wreath, and mixes the intoxicating cup; but the fruit which virtue gives, is the recompence of toil; and, gradually seen as it ripens, only affords calm satisfaction."
Wollstonecraft's main emphasis is on the necessity of education to improve/liberate women, as they will always be terrible (cunning, vain, etc.), if they don't have understanding, judgement and virtue gained from education. She also calls for a national, free school system that would educated boys and girls, rich and poor together, which exists to a certain extent (though less so the mixing of rich and poor) in many countries, though modern education, which focuses on memorization, drilling in information, is certainly not Wollstonecraft would have wanted, as she prioritized a civic, moral education, physical activity - as the physical and mental virtue complement each other - and more imaginative, innovative ways of teaching that don't rely on drilling, or lecturing.
Wollstonecraft's thoughts on what humans should aim themselves towards are also interesting, as these inform her argument for women's rights. She values the expansion of the mind and reason above all, seeing reason as like to god. And reason can only come from a good education, which produces judgement, reflection, understanding, modesty, virtue and of course reason in a person. Wollstonecraft spends time describing what she thinks each of these qualities ought to be in a person of true learning. And of course, she also details how she thinks these qualities are debased a society of wealth and sexual inequality, in which people blindly bow to prejudice and authority.
The book is disorganized and the writing confusing at times. It could have been shorter. Vindication reads very differently from modern feminist writings, as feminism would grow to write towards a theory of patriarchy and male supremacy, both historically and in present society, a theory which is not really present in this book, at least not much. Wollstonecraft is also pretty harsh to women as a group, which stems from her focus on how lack of education inculcates vice in women, and also her focus on primarily upper-class women (a contempt for which Simone de Beauvoir also expresses in The Second Sex). But I still think the writing is interesting, and worth reading, both as a significant text in the history of feminism, and for the value her insights can still hold. As said, it is also a philosophical text, putting forward of the view of society and what it ought to be/vlaue, so this is of interest as well.
Finally, though she tempers it at times, its sad to read how optimistic she is on education being this great force that can change things. I mean I agree with her but only to an extent. In particular, she thought educating boys and girls together could not help but to establish great fellow-feeling between them but alas...this doesn't seem to have happened. Oh well... More broadly, the way she imagined education, in terms of the method of teaching, and the value it ought to inspire, has not actually occurred so who knows, perhaps she may be proved more correct in this!
"Pleasure prepares the fading wreath, and mixes the intoxicating cup; but the fruit which virtue gives, is the recompence of toil; and, gradually seen as it ripens, only affords calm satisfaction."
Wollstonecraft's main emphasis is on the necessity of education to improve/liberate women, as they will always be terrible (cunning, vain, etc.), if they don't have understanding, judgement and virtue gained from education. She also calls for a national, free school system that would educated boys and girls, rich and poor together, which exists to a certain extent (though less so the mixing of rich and poor) in many countries, though modern education, which focuses on memorization, drilling in information, is certainly not Wollstonecraft would have wanted, as she prioritized a civic, moral education, physical activity - as the physical and mental virtue complement each other - and more imaginative, innovative ways of teaching that don't rely on drilling, or lecturing.
Wollstonecraft's thoughts on what humans should aim themselves towards are also interesting, as these inform her argument for women's rights. She values the expansion of the mind and reason above all, seeing reason as like to god. And reason can only come from a good education, which produces judgement, reflection, understanding, modesty, virtue and of course reason in a person. Wollstonecraft spends time describing what she thinks each of these qualities ought to be in a person of true learning. And of course, she also details how she thinks these qualities are debased a society of wealth and sexual inequality, in which people blindly bow to prejudice and authority.
The book is disorganized and the writing confusing at times. It could have been shorter. Vindication reads very differently from modern feminist writings, as feminism would grow to write towards a theory of patriarchy and male supremacy, both historically and in present society, a theory which is not really present in this book, at least not much. Wollstonecraft is also pretty harsh to women as a group, which stems from her focus on how lack of education inculcates vice in women, and also her focus on primarily upper-class women (a contempt for which Simone de Beauvoir also expresses in The Second Sex). But I still think the writing is interesting, and worth reading, both as a significant text in the history of feminism, and for the value her insights can still hold. As said, it is also a philosophical text, putting forward of the view of society and what it ought to be/vlaue, so this is of interest as well.
Finally, though she tempers it at times, its sad to read how optimistic she is on education being this great force that can change things. I mean I agree with her but only to an extent. In particular, she thought educating boys and girls together could not help but to establish great fellow-feeling between them but alas...this doesn't seem to have happened. Oh well... More broadly, the way she imagined education, in terms of the method of teaching, and the value it ought to inspire, has not actually occurred so who knows, perhaps she may be proved more correct in this!