Chelsea Mays

Class Summary 03.08.2011

Chelsea Mays

Richard Polwhele, Hannah More and Mary Wollstonecraft

At the start of class today we were upset to hear that we would have to take our framed Canonball directions off the wall and print out new copies because Dr. Foss had made several changes to the Wiki. After a detailed account of what was expected of our projects, and only after reassurance that we were ready to aim and fire, we moved on to discuss our topic of the week: Rights of Women. Today’s lecture focused on Mary Wollstonecraft and her role as a key player in this wave of the feminist movement, and possibly the most influential and infamous female figure from her time.

We began large group with a brief biography on Mary Wollstonecraft and “Vindication of the Rights of Women.” We found that her personal biography, her life choices and the repercussions of those choices due to the standards of the time period, really helped shape her work. We also found that it was after her death that her reputation was really destroyed with the publication of all her personal letters and writings by her husband William Godwin. Quickly her arguments were discredited by ad hominem attacks, and up to one hundred years following her death, people could not directly quote Wollstonecraft for fear of being discarded as unsound. However, throughout the years, feminists have used her arguments time and again without citing her as the source of their knowledge.

After this we broke into small groups where each group was assigned five pages of “Vindication of the Rights of Women.” We were to ponder the five pages and pick out Wollstonecraft’s main ideas from the section. Our group had Chapter Nine “Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinction Established in Society.” The first point of interest we discussed was Wollstonecraft’s belief that women cannot have virtue until they are separated from men. She recognizes that women have very limited choices of jobs and that being a dress maker is only one step up from being a prostitute. Still, she argues that women have more options than they realize. Instead of being proud of being weak, Wollstonecraft believes that women need to embrace their own strength. She goes on to attack the “preposterous distinctions of rank.” She is in opposition of slavery and seemingly all forms of inequality, and shows obvious disdain for royalty and women who want to be “ladies.”  Wollstonecraft is of the opinion that anyone who wants to be a “lady” is basically saying they want to do nothing. In addition, women who are without virtue are just objects are not capable of being good mothers. This, according to Wollstonecraft, is the most important thing for a woman to be. She goes on to speak against rich women who hire midwives. She claims that women with midwifes are too focused on being attractive and should not strive to seek so much admiration from their husbands. Along the same lines, men should be happy if their wives are good mothers and are not obsessed with keeping them happy.

When we returned to large group the discussion turned to women as writers of Romantic Imagination or Romantic Irony. It was decided that women writers of the time found distrust in the fancy imaginative writings and were much more likely to find appeal in reason. Since they did not have political or civil rights, the only accomplishments they could achieve were in womanly things. For this reason any power found in beauty, whether it be in writing or person, was considered illegitimate. Feminists like Wollstonecraft believed that there was a need for a revolution in education. They planned to push for this revolution until people came to recognize reason.

Finally we discussed modern day women and what we believed Mary Wollstonecraft’s opinions would be today. The class seemed rather torn on the issue, with some saying she would like the progress and others arguing that she would still be disappointed. Many seemed to feel that Wollstonecraft herself might have mixed feelings. Dr. Foss began the discussion saying that scientists have recently released studies proving women may have better minds than men. It is his belief that these are true (due, of course, to his fortunate acquaintance with Dr. Scanlon.) However, it is also true that women are still earning seventy cents to every dollar earned by a man. This proves that we are still living in a patriarchal society. Stemming from this one only has to watch a beer commercial to know that women are still used as sexualized objects, and there are still sources like Cosmo Magazine that ingrate the importance of beauty and pleasing men in young women and girls. Nonetheless, Wollstonecraft would have to recognize that progress has been made. Many would say a woman is most appealing when she is both smart and beautiful. Also, men are now feeling the pressure to look attractive as well. With the increasing popularity of man-scaping and metrosexualism, men are starting to understand what women put themselves through to look “pretty.”  While double standards still exist, they are becoming less extreme. For example, women can now raise families and be single mothers without extreme scorn. In many cases it is considered an admirable accomplishment. Wollstonecraft herself, we believe, is a great example of the first “supermom.”

Today, Mary Wollstonecraft is recognized for the strides she made in feminism, and the significance of her literary works. Although she is not given the credit she deserves, she has influenced many throughout history. Her works as well as her life speak to the beliefs that she held, and today we recognized her as a supermom, a talented author, and an inspiration.