“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
During the period of revolutionary change in Europe, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote “A vindication of the Rights of Woman” as an attempt to show the oppression of men against women. Wollstonecraft accurately vindicates the rights of woman, by stating “Women are told from their infancy…. softness of temper, outward obedience and scrupulous attention…. will obtain for them the protection of man, and should they be beautiful, everything else is needless, for, at least twenty years of their lives. (Wollstonecraft pg. 18) Women’s rights will be vindicated when women no longer are expected to impress men with beauty, subordination, and innocence. These expectations put women at a lower status in regards to men, and marks women as being incapable of performing the duties of man. A woman’s virtue is to be afforded the same opportunities as man in order to benefit the human race, not be systematically trained to be subordinates. …show more content…
This constant physical demand dilutes the intellect of a woman since it focuses merely on their physical beauty as being useful. Wollstonecraft regards this praise exhilarating to women and that they must refuse from relying on the illogical power of beauty given to them by man. She states “and if women do not resign the arbitrary power of beauty- they will prove that they have less mind than man. (Wollstonecraft pg. 20) This superficial judgment weakens a woman’s character and perceives her usefulness to a man as purely physical and pleasurable. With this power of beauty, a woman is enslaved to the desires of man, and to keep him happy she will continue to give into his desires. This revolving shift of power degrades a woman as merely a beautiful
During the period of revolutionary change in Europe, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote “A vindication of the Rights of Woman” as an attempt to show the oppression of men against women. Wollstonecraft accurately vindicates the rights of woman, by stating “Women are told from their infancy…. softness of temper, outward obedience and scrupulous attention…. will obtain for them the protection of man, and should they be beautiful, everything else is needless, for, at least twenty years of their lives. (Wollstonecraft pg. 18) Women’s rights will be vindicated when women no longer are expected to impress men with beauty, subordination, and innocence. These expectations put women at a lower status in regards to men, and marks women as being incapable of performing the duties of man. A woman’s virtue is to be afforded the same opportunities as man in order to benefit the human race, not be systematically trained to be subordinates. …show more content…
This constant physical demand dilutes the intellect of a woman since it focuses merely on their physical beauty as being useful. Wollstonecraft regards this praise exhilarating to women and that they must refuse from relying on the illogical power of beauty given to them by man. She states “and if women do not resign the arbitrary power of beauty- they will prove that they have less mind than man. (Wollstonecraft pg. 20) This superficial judgment weakens a woman’s character and perceives her usefulness to a man as purely physical and pleasurable. With this power of beauty, a woman is enslaved to the desires of man, and to keep him happy she will continue to give into his desires. This revolving shift of power degrades a woman as merely a beautiful