Mary Wollstonecraft - Feminism

Key Seminar/Reading Notes
        My Thoughts/Opinions

To be perfectly honest when I found out the reading for this seminar was by a feminist writer my heart sank a little bit. I am one of those girls who think that feminism is somewhat of a complete wast of time, and i often find my self extremely annoyed by women who think that females are better than males at everything. This hatred towards feminists may have stemmed from a childhood friend I used to have. I was best friends with her from reception until year 11; this was because I had finally had enough of her feminist ways! I will always remember one day laughing at a sexist joke told by one of the boys in class and she wouldn't talk to me for a week because I was a "disgrace to women everywhere."

I am not suggesting that women should be treated as second class citizens to men, I am simply saying that women need to accept that there are some things that men are simply better at, and similarly there are also things that women are better at. We are equal, but different.

I have to admit that I did admire Mary Wollstonecraft in the sense that she made the effort to educate herself even though she came from a poor family and had little hope of ever accomplishing anything of value, but after reading her opinions about women I began to wonder just how educated she actually was!

Unlike traditional feminists who blame men for inequality between the sexes, Wollstonecraft blames women for allowing themselves to be objectified. She believed that it is the responsibility of women to question why they are not treated as equals, and to challenge the role that society has given them. This is not something which I particularly agree with because during that time men had always been treated as superior over women, so there was not necessarily any reason for women to accept this - it was something that they were born into and that they accepted. I think it is unfair of Wollstonecraft to suggest that women should instinctively question something which they have been born into and accept.

However, the fact that women are born into this role is something with Wollstonecraft uses in her argument for a reason why women need to be treated equally. Wollstonecraft had been heavily influenced by the ideas of John Locke, who believed that all people are born a blank slate, completely equal and then aspects such as education and wealth have an effect on the people we become. Wollstonecraft believed that we are all born blank and that we all have the same potential as one another. She did not believe that gender should play any role in society at all, and that gender should only become an issue when you enter into a relationship.

In her book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft says that "a King is always a King and a woman is always a woman.' This suggests that like a King, women are born to be given respect, they do not earn it. As men are not mentioned that also gives the impression that a man can be anything he desires. Wollstonecraft resented the fact that women were given respect rather than earning it because she thought that this in itself was sexist because it was men deciding how much respect to give to women. She said "the passions of men have placed women on the throne." This could be interpreted in a number of ways. One is that Wollstonecraft was making a comment about how women are "placed" in roles where they are given respect but that they haven't actually earned it. This could also be interpreted to suggest that men do not actually think that a woman should be "on the throne" and instead only put her there as a result of their passions, not reason. I do not agree with Locke's suggest that men and women are innately the same. I think that there are parts of a woman's nature that are innately different to a man's. For example, there is no doubt that most women have a maternal instinct, for example they play with baby dolls growing up. I do not think that this is simply because society dictates that boys should play with action heroes and girls with baby dolls, I tihnk that this is because of the different natures of girls and boys.


Wollstonecraft stressed the importance of equal opportunities of education between the sexes. She believed that education was the gateway to a respectable, fulfilling life and that if women were given the same opportunities as men then there is no reason why women would not be able to become doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc. She also believed that women who were education would start to question their role in society. This is something that I would agree with because I also believe that a good education can open doors, and without one a person, male or female, cannot expect to become a high achiever. There are however exceptions to this rule depending on what your definition of a high achiever is. If the definition of high achiever is someone who is intellectually superior to others then education is possibly the only way to become successful. However, if your definition of successful is someone who is able to make a lot of money from their ideas then you only need to look at examples such as Richard Branson, who never graduated, to see that an education is clearly not essential to this kind of success.

In her book, Wollstonecraft likens women to caged birds. This is also something which could be interpreted in a number of ways. Wollstonecraft could have meant that women are like caged birds in the sense that they are there only to be admired by people are outside of the cage, and that they are completely reliant on their others to take care of them. In this sense Wollstonecraft would have suggested that the people admiring the birds are men and that women need men to provide everything that they need. Wollstonecraft could have also compared women to caged birds to suggest that women have the potential to be free and spread their wings in the sense that if they were freed from their cages then they would be able to go much further in life. Wollstonecraft could have also meant that birds are naturally free, but have been caged by humans. This could reflect her opinion that women are naturally free to educate themselves and have a beneficial role in society, but this freedom has been removed by men who have placed them in cages.

Wollstonecraft's work was largely discredited after her death when her husband revealed that she had illegitimate children, had affairs and was suicidal. He said that she had tried to kill herself because she fell in love with a married man who did not love her back, however her suicide attempt failed. The fact that Wollstonecraft tried to kill herself over a man's love not only discredited because is revealed her to be mentally unstable, it also discredited her because she was will to end her life just because a man did not love her. This was completely contradictory to her work because it proved that she cared about gaining love, respect and attention from a man as much as any other other woman did, more so in fact! I think that if Wollstonecraft was alive today then she would be pleased with the progress in education in the sense that women and men are given the same opportunities, however I think that she would also be very surprised the number of women who still allow men to control them despite their education. I do not think that a man should try to control a woman, but I think that if that is the kind of relationship that a woman wants to have then she should be entitled to that. Even to this day women all over the world are inspired by stories such as Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in which the male protagonist is quite chauvinistic and does not give women much respect. However in spite of this women still swoon over this type of male lead, which I think proves that there is something in a woman's nature which makes them want to be controlled and looked after. 

Journalism Now - Women's magazines in consumer society 1950 - present day

Currently in English speaking countries there are over eighty successful women’s magazines in publication. This is a huge change to the handful of women’s magazines in production prior to the 1950s; so what has changed?

Prior to the 1950s women’s magazines were mainly produced by men. This was because, even after the successful Suffragette movement in the early twentieth century, it was still unusual to find women in positions of power in any industry. The magazine industry was no exception to this. However, the late twentieth and now the twenty first century have seen a dramatic increase in the number of successful women in the workplace. In addition, more women have been at the forefront of making magazines appealing to other women.

Take for example Cosmopolitan, one of the world’s most popular women’s magazines. Originally created by Paul Schilcht in 1886, Cosmopolitan was meant to be an upper class family publication.

The magazine tried to appeal to women by featuring articles on cooking and how to look after _­children.  This was appropriate for the sexist generation of the time; but the magazine had limited success. Cosmopolitan only gained international recognition when Helen Gurley-Brown became the chief editor in 1965.

The 1960s was the decade of free love and women’s liberation; Gurley-Brown used this to her advantage. She remodelled the publication to target a sexually liberal audience by featuring articles which openly discussed sexual matters. These articles were extremely innovative; today nearly every women’s magazine from Allure to Woman’s Own will feature sex in some way.

Cosmopolitan now features articles such as ‘How to ask a guy out’ (Cosmopolitan- August 2010) and ‘Sexy hairstyles – how to get them’ (Cosmopolitan – August 2010). At first glance it appears as though articles such as these are designed to empower women and make them more confident, ideals which are miles away from the 1950s articles, for example ‘How to avoid being a wet blanket to your husband’ ( My Home- 1950).

Many of the articles aim to give ideas and tips to the reader on how they can improve the quality of their life, and as a consequence will therefore be better able to please their men.

Women’s magazines target common female insecurities, then attempt to boost their readers' confidence. Western society is full of female consumers who lead hectic lives and use magazines as a means of escapism. Women enjoy reading about celebrity scandals and shocking real life stories because for the few minutes when they are reading, they are distracted from the monotony of their own lives. 

Ultimately the success of women’s magazines is based on a woman’s need to be socially acceptable, wear the ‘on trend’ fashion and make-up, sport the latest hairstyle, please their man and juggle a career and home life successfully.