Mary Wollstonecraft Feminism Analysis

873 Words2 Pages

Mary Wollstonecraft was the spear head of feminism in early England. She brought thoughts and arguments against societal norms into the minds of many that her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, became household knowledge throughout the United States. Her writings and radical ideas gave her the nickname of the Mother of Feminism of the early feminist movement. Likewise, Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto in England. His writing aroused many thoughts focused on the class norms that existed throughout the world. Both, the Communist Manifesto and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, fight the exploitation of their respective classes and cause. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman point out the exploitation of women and the …show more content…

Rousseau argues that “women ought to be weak and passive, because she has less bodily strength than man; and hence infers, that she was formed to please and to be subject to him; and that it is her duty to render herself agreeable to her master” (Wollstonecraft 79). Thus affirming that women were in more of a slave-like condition than an equal. Wollstonecraft views marriage as a bond of friendship and love rather than the man holding all of the power in the relationship and the woman just being there to please her husband. Women are not viewed as equals, but more so an outlet for quick pleasure and nothing more. Wollstonecraft states that, “Most of the evils of life arise from a desire of present enjoyment that outruns itself. The obedience required of women in the marriage state comes under this description; the mind, naturally weakened by depending on authority, never exerts its own powers, and the obedient …show more content…

His strife was between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. He believed that the proletariats were being exploited by the bourgeoisie through unfair production of good and the pay. In other words, the bourgeoisie owned and controlled the means of production while the proletariats own nothing but their right to sell their labor. In this way the bourgeoisie could pick what they want to pay the worker bee proletariats and could string them along at will. As time passed and technology advanced the proletariats were phased out of their jobs by newly created machines and technology. Therefore, the proletariats could be thrown out like trash depending on what the bourgeoisie wanted, without defense of the proletariats. Marx believed that as technology advanced, the proletariats were able to become educated and form unions against the bourgeoisie. As the proletariats grew they would become more united and be able to overpower their bourgeoisie

Open Document