Mary Wollstonecraft Analysis

This paper presents a supplemental exploration on the Eighteenth century feminist philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft. Specifically, it argues that Wollstonecraft’s political and sociological views are radical for her time. Additionally, this paper hypothesizes that Wollstonecraft’s vision suggests she believes the classic contract theorists include women in their conceptions of the social contract theory on the basis of their unfounded claims that women are irrational beings and deserving of justifiable subordination. Thus, allowing classic contractarians to rationalize their exclusion of women and thereby assigning them to their specific roles in society. Finally, it posits that consideration of Mary Wollstonecraft as both a political theorist and a sociologist is valid. To be sure, her arguments demonstrate the depth and breadth of her feminist views through her micro and macro assertions of women’s roles in the social hierarchy and political institutions.
Challenging the Status Quo To begin, it is fair to argue that Mary Wollstonecraft’s political theory and sociological …show more content…
214). Furthermore, she strengthens her argument for the advocacy of women’s ability to be reasonable and rational with her position on how women and men are socialized through education. Perhaps one of her most controversial ideas is that the education of men and women teaches society that women are inferior to men. Specifically, in her publication, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, “her contention is that the lack of intellectual development in women id due to the differences in educational opportunities between the two sexes” (213). It is for these reasons that the adaptation of her male cohorts’ views to her vision of women qualifies her as being avant-garde, or,