History: Reflections of revolution 1789, she published one of the first responses called Vindication of Rights of Men, published anonymously - speaks as if written by a man; manly= virtuous, rational - Vindication of the rights of Women
men is a number of classes; all human beings - she doesnt just mean masculine men, she means humans.
term man for humans? mankind? - making man the norm, principle form, the most exemplary
society systematically induces sexism through education, trains women not to be virtuous, rational, or manly
attacks kings - every profession which involves subordination, is highly injurious to morality (teacher to students?) - proponents of meritocracy
Soldier=Woman
pg. 41: standing armies - understanding is rare to be found among soldiers and women; only taught to please- only taught about manners before morals - both blindly submit to authority - - if you educate men to be as stupid as women, they will be therefore you could potentially educate women to be as smart as men. - women are not naturally inferior, they just are nurtured to be this way
so upset with Rousseau because he stands for equality of men, social contract - he would have endorsed her vindication of the rights of man, but when it comes to women, he does not endorse it
Women aggravate the situation though- using your sexual power, play on the weakness of men - not using your wisdom -- become so attractive so that men faun over you and worship you; leads to sensuous fantasy DONT BUY INTO THIS
first time there is a clear opposition to education; suggestive of reform
Wollstonecraft believed in virtue, very rationalistic, fell in love professed this love and for her this is marriage did not with anything to do with traditional marriage - had a child out of wedlock; he felt he was just involved with a mistress, so she tried to commit suicide, felt the world had utterly betrayed her for her word did not hold
believed in absolute transparency, and what you say holds forever; if i say that I am going to live with you for the rest of my life, this sticks - she was absolutely consistent with her claims about virtue; people were scandalized by her behavior
pg. 74/75: she says man and means humans ; every individual is a world within itself
No comments:
Post a Comment