Mary Wollstonecraft

INSPIRATIONAL GIRLS & WOMEN, August 2008, by Jenny McWha

Mary Wollstonecraft
writer, philosopher, and likely the first ever feminist

If there’s one thing that I have learned through my passion for history, it’s that there have been some pretty inspirational women over the past few thousand years! For a history project, I was lucky enough to drink tea with some awesome historical figures, as well as take on the character ‘Mary Wollstonecraft’, a pretty inspirational woman in my books.

What is a Feminist?
Mary Wollstonecraft is largely considered to be the very first feminist! You may have heard that word associated with freaky new-age women or marches and bra-burnings of the 1960’s. But really, a feminist is anyone who fights for the equality of women, and the philosophy goes back many years. In fact, Mary lived in England during the late 1700s; a time when women were expected to get a husband, have some kids, look after the home, and keep their complexion at its best (no sun for them!). Pretty much, they were there to look good. If that doesn’t sound very fun, then I wholeheartedly agree with you.

It was also a time when entire countries were fighting for freedom and equality, especially the French. They were in the midst of the French Revolution, a time when everyone wanted to get rid of the royalty and rich upper classes. In fact, the French Revolution was a major event that sparked Mary’s feminist thinking. Let’s rewind a bit.

An Independent Woman
Aftersingle-handedly saving her sister from a bad marriage, the two plus a friend started a school for girls. Unfortunately, the school failed, but Mary had befriended a publisher who encouraged her to write for a living. She called herself a woman of a new age; one who supported herself and didn’t need a man to live. She also worked in a publishing house, reading philosophical essays and forming opinions of her own among the groups of intellectuals of the day.

What Mary was doing was simply ground breaking for her time: she was living a successful, fulfilled life, ‘sans’ husband, family and every other silly thing that people used to think were ‘essentials of womanhood’.

During the French Revolution, Mary was overjoyed. Talk of liberty, justice, and equality was everywhere. When a national free education system was discussed in France, Mary thought that women would finally have the chance to break free from the chains surrounding them. When she learned that this education was for men, she got mad! So mad, in fact, that she wrote the book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’. Her first order of business was to answer to the belief that God had made woman inferior to man. “Nonsense”, Mary said. She argued that women should be educated so that they could become better wives, citizens, and mothers. Girls were so often told to strive for the feminine ideal; to be the best they could be in order to please men, often only concerned with fashion and gossip. Mary argued that a good education, rewarding work, and a marriage of intellectual equals would make women the best they could be. She stood up and spoke out of women’s potential.

It Worked!
It took a long time, but Mary’s vision came true. Look around you. You expect a good education, a life partner who will look at you as equal and intelligent, you want rewarding work that you are appreciated for. If not for women like Mary Wollstonecraft and countless courageous others, we may be living in a very different world. There is still a long way to go for equality for women, but just by working or going to school, you, like Mary, are showing the world that we are not at all the weaker sex.

~ Jenny

Girls Can Do Anything Magazine

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