Prove Me Wrong - AnnaKate Burleson

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I love the way Wollstonecraft writes. She doesn't beat around the bush. Her intentions are always clear and her position is never in a gray area. If you walk away from this book unsure of what her point was, then you read it incorrectly (no offense).
I admire Mary's boldness in her words, and also in her thoughts. I cannot read a single page of this without taking a second to remind myself of this book's historical context, which makes it all the more amazing to me. Mary Wollstonecraft is one of my heroes (even if she was a little bit nuts in her personal life) simply because she refuses to be disrespected. She will be taken seriously, no matter how unladylike she has to be to get there. I have so much respect for this attitude. Even in the form in which she chooses to write, it's like she's saying "If masculine is what gets respect, then masculine is what I'll be."
"Masculine" in this sense meaning authoritative (which is not a bad thing). 
Part of what makes Wollstonecraft's vindication so unique is how it regularly challenges the audience, who is assumed to be the very men "in charge" of her. Chapter 13 has a really good example of this.
"Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated, or justify the authority that chains such a weak being to her duty."
This is probably one of my favorite things she says the entire time. It's like she's asking, "What are you afraid of? What's holding you back from proving me wrong?" If women are given the same rights as men and prove themselves incapable of handling them, then man was right to oppress us. But there's no way to know if no one ever tries. Wollstonecraft works every angle to prove how there is literally no good reason not to give women equal rights, and this challenge is one of my favorite ways she does that. I don't really know why this one is so wonderful to me, since I don't exactly thrive in conflict scenarios, but for some reason the visual of this incredibly intelligent, incredibly oppressed woman telling every man in her world to man up and prove her wrong is so powerful to me. It probably helps that I know that none of them proved her wrong. All in all, I have so much respect for Mary Wollstonecraft and all the work she did to pave the road towards the emancipation of women everywhere. My hope is that we carry this torch alongside her until women everywhere in the world have the rights we all do here.


drew & moriah

Comments

Moriah Nelson said…
Yes, AnnaKate!! I agree with you and my copy of Wollstonecraft's book is now well-underlined and highlighted. I think a large reason I can respect Mary Wollstonecraft is how she presents her argument. She calls the men out but also recognizes the responsibility women have to stand up and speak. She's also just great at making a clear and organized argument which I greatly appreciate.
October 28, 2019 at 1:46 PM
Joshua Evers said…
Great post! I can quickly say that Wollstonecraft wrote with a credibility behind her words, and by that I mean she was not afraid to act them out. As much as I may question aspects of her argument, I must applaud that she is intentional with everything she says, and willing to sacrifice to bring it to fruition.
October 28, 2019 at 6:04 PM
Hannah Schofield said…
Say it louder for the people in the back! I think this may be my new favorite blog post because you perfectly iterated everything I have been thinking! She was a, for lack of better wording, a firecracker that anyone, especially women, can look up to. I struggle to post a controversial caption on Instagram for everyone to see, I could not even begin to imagine publishing a whole book full of my own rampant thoughts. Ha! What a woman. Great blog, AK!
October 28, 2019 at 9:56 PM
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