After reading A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, I didn't necessarily have one massive theme or moral I pulled from it, more that I had a collection of thoughts on different aspects and pieces of the reading. Firstly, I have massive respect for Wollstonecraft's style- she seems very similar to Descartes in that she addresses everything at one point or another and has clearly used reason to determine what she will say. Nothing seems unintentional in this book. Secondly, she does not pull punches. Time and time again, she absolutely destroys man and society for their fault against women. I honestly don't feel like that attitude (or even the entire book) is an overreaction- I actually think that she, and women of the time, if not women now, are deserving of more action and activity as opposed to not doing anything about the problem at hand.
As for separate parts of the reading, I really understood the first three chapters very well, so I am going to give a brief overview of some of the things I thought while reading them. Chapter four was definitely odd and I didn't feel like I grasped it particularly well.
Wollstonecraft hit the nail on the head when speaking on organized groups of men (through profession/occupation) being a serious danger to each other's morality (and perhaps also philosophy/society..)
Later on, she speaks on how education has simultaneously supported men and failed women in that it's consistent for men through their whole life and it's piecemeal for women is very thought-provoking. I personally wondered about how we got from that system to what we have today, as well as that this change isn't necessarily seen in all countries just because we have it in America.
In chapter two, Wollstonecraft refutes Dr. Gregory's philosophy on the assumed female affinity for dressing nicely. This paragraph was really strongly written and clearly thought out. I found it very intriguing how much she went into detail describing (what I think is) conditioning when a lot of studying on this subject and the psychology at play hadn't really been done.
Finally, I am left with one question, and it may be that I missed the answer, or we just haven't got to it. I wonder- If man/the current society of men is at fault for oppression of women and women's rights, (1) how intentional is this oppression and (2) how do we fix it (assuming it's still around at some level today)?
Edit: I commented on Josh and Gray's posts.
As for separate parts of the reading, I really understood the first three chapters very well, so I am going to give a brief overview of some of the things I thought while reading them. Chapter four was definitely odd and I didn't feel like I grasped it particularly well.
Wollstonecraft hit the nail on the head when speaking on organized groups of men (through profession/occupation) being a serious danger to each other's morality (and perhaps also philosophy/society..)
Later on, she speaks on how education has simultaneously supported men and failed women in that it's consistent for men through their whole life and it's piecemeal for women is very thought-provoking. I personally wondered about how we got from that system to what we have today, as well as that this change isn't necessarily seen in all countries just because we have it in America.
In chapter two, Wollstonecraft refutes Dr. Gregory's philosophy on the assumed female affinity for dressing nicely. This paragraph was really strongly written and clearly thought out. I found it very intriguing how much she went into detail describing (what I think is) conditioning when a lot of studying on this subject and the psychology at play hadn't really been done.
Finally, I am left with one question, and it may be that I missed the answer, or we just haven't got to it. I wonder- If man/the current society of men is at fault for oppression of women and women's rights, (1) how intentional is this oppression and (2) how do we fix it (assuming it's still around at some level today)?
Edit: I commented on Josh and Gray's posts.
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