Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Adding a feminine twist to the natural rights discourse, Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman brings into perspective the proper conception of a woman in relation to natural rights, making it one of the earliest known works on the rights of woman. As one of the earliest known female rights activist, Wollstonecraft tailored a more philosophically grounded perception and conception of a woman as against the general idea and view held of women, which has negatively affected and circumscribed the role of women in the society to certain rigid aspects and functions. “These writers regarding  females as women rather than as human creatures, have been more concerned to make  them alluring mistresses than affectionate wives and rational mothers”  Wollstonecraft (2010:5).

 A vindication of the rights of a woman therefore justifies female rights in the rights discourse. It clamours for an approach to natural rights theory which does not displace the female gender when conceiving rights, knowing fully well that women are also humans and should be regarded as such irrespective of gender or sex. Undisputedly,  the  law of nature in so far as  strength  is concerned,  according to Wollstonecraft makes women inferior to men  but this does not serve  to justify  inequality between man and woman or  the  denial of the right entitled to the woman.  Wollstonecraft advocates that women should be viewed with a philosophical eye which according to her implies that, they be seen based on their inherent capabilities and abilities, especially those that serve to improve human development and development of human virtues.  Wollstonecraft decides that the perspective or conception of women should be, first as who they are as human beings before bringing in the sex for which they represent. Suffice it to say that a woman is a human being representing the female sex or gender and should be considered as such instead of a female gender being human. Wollstonecraft’s ideas can therefore be described as a humane perspective on rights of a woman. “I shall first consider woman as human creatures who in common with men are placed on this earth to develop their abilities and then I shall attend to the implications of the more specific label women”  Wollstonecraft (2010:5). She insists that, any standard that must be used to judge or relate to women should be deduced not from sensual, moral or cultural ethos and standards but from pure reason which according to Wollstonecraft apply to the whole species.

In simple terms, every woman wants what every human wants and no man can claim to be more human than any woman, based on the fact that he is a man.  Wollstonecraft advocates for rationality in describing women as a way of discovering the real worth of the woman.  As it is the irrational ideas of women, ideas which according to Wollstonecraft are based on the senses instead of reason that gives birth to certain displaced expressions ascribed with women which are almost synonymous with expressions indicating weakness.  She insinuates that these expressions are further used by men to endorse “our slavish dependence easier for us” Wollstonecraft (2010:5). “I want to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the most praiseworthy  ambition  is  to  obtain  a character as a human being whether male or female and that lesser ambitions should be tested against that one” Wollstonecraft (2010:5).  The mind of a woman is not weaker than that of a man  because  of  her sex,  as such it is then possible to find a woman whose mind  is  stronger  than  that of a man as much as we can find a man whose mind is stronger  than that of  a woman. This kind of reasoning puts the right perspective of equality on the gender scale. Wollstonecraft believes that if women are compelled to live by and subdued to certain labels and dictates of societal standards of womanhood, instead of living out their full faculties as humans and individuals with reason, is a way of denying them freedom and liberty.  She also asserts that the characterisation of women as feeble has much to do with education than with nature.

The ideas enunciated by Wollstonecraft  has contributed immensely to solving the challenges of the modern human rights system because, viewing  rights  starting first with the human person helps to purge the human rights system of  every sentimental  and destructive  ideas that does more  to plunge  it into  one  that destroys  or weakens  the development of the human being instead of developing  the  human being.  It  is  significant in that,  we can talk of  human rights  and confidently have it at the back of our minds that these also includes  women,  so long as they are human  instead of having to emphasize on women’s rights.  This perspective of rights also enables us to talk about human rights and have it at the back of our minds that this necessarily includes, ensuring a better and descent wellbeing for all human beings without having to contemplate that this might be a deviation of the human rights agenda.