Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her essay,”A Vindication of the Rights of Women” as a response to the French Revolution and a response to certain writers’ views, including Jewan-Jaques Rousseau. Wollstonecraft was one of the first to write about feminism, and was one of the first to make people think about the concept of feminism, and spark some kind of a reaction from it. During the French Revolution, it was clear that many philosophers and writers were questioning traditional thought with reason, which Wollstonecraft does not stray from one bit.

It is obvious that Wollstonecraft has a direct connection to the theme in her essay, as she is a woman in society who certainly questioned her place, and the inequality standards placed on many other fellow woman in society. From the short background given about her, it is also clear that Wollstonecraft was not one to stick to traditional values. The book states that she had a child out of wedlock and was widely mocked for her views. She obviously questioned why there was an inequality for woman and certainly tried to resolve the issue with her feminist values.

To Wollstonecraft, inequality is crafted from the inability to reason. She believes that both men and woman have reason and are able to be reasonable and rational beings. However, the education that woman receive, as is very opposite to the quality that men receive, prevents woman from being able to reason properly.She mentions that the main port of education is derived from society and social values. So, as long as society remains the same with the values it had, it will just continue breeding a human race that is unequal. Wollstonecraft’s tone throughout the essay is somewhat attempting to spark a revolution and change, as most works were at this time. She is somewhat subliminally encouraging woman and men to change the values of society so that the human race can thrive off of real reason.

Wollstonecraft is very strong at conveying her point throughout the essay. However, I found this to also be a slight weakness of hers just because she seems to repeat her point over and over again. I would have rather heard new points, rather than have heard her thesis repeated so many times. However, I do see why she did this because repeating this need for change so many times subconsciously sparks a revolution in the mind of the reader, which is certainly what she was trying to do, and succeeded at it. The work was clearly successful because it became the first true written essay about feminism that dared to question this tradition that was around for years. She wanted to make people angry, and make them want to change. And, even though she got mocked for her thoughts and work, it was still noticed.

Looking back from now, surely progress has been made. Woman have definitely outgrown this role that they were forced to play. It is not to say, however, that sexism does not exist anymore, because we still see it all around us. We see all kind of -isms and inequality. Although we have came a long way from racism, sexism, and other inequalities, it will always be a hinder in the world, and I am pretty sure it will never be fully put away.