Nature, Capital 'N' (Cont.)

Hello, World.

In this post, I will continue discussing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft, and how nature and society are examined to understand their effects on female inequality.

       Wollstonecraft not only discusses how nature has affected what roles society has created for each gender, but also the concrete beliefs and attitudes that each sex has developed against each other; this is more significant towards women. Wollstonecraft discusses upbringing and education and how we are raised to believe something.

"One cause of this barren blooming I attribute to a false system of education, gathered from the books written on this subject by men who, considering females rather as women than as human creatures, have been more anxious to make them alluring mistresses than affectionate wives and rational mothers"(1-2).

       The most important part of Wollstonecraft's argument is how 'education  has shaped men's views of women as objects rather than as human beings. Men, and women actually, have been raised to believe that not only are males superior, but that women are so alienated that they are almost their own species. Wollstonecraft is more broadly telling us that a big factor of gender separation and discrimination is the way we are raised, the fact that the society we are born to has encoded us with specific views and beliefs towards women.

        This issue strongly reminds me of the Civill Rights Movement of African-Americans (1955-1968). White children were raised and bred with a hate towards African-Americans, where racist parents enforced racism in their completely unaware, immature, and barely educated children who most likely had never developed their own opinion. This increased and drove thoughtless racism and hatred in small children to construct a new generation which mirrors the horrors of the previous one.

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       Lastly, I want to touch upon Wollstonecraft's direct views regarding the effects of upbringing on gender discrimination. Very interestingly, she talks about child play behaviour, which similarly to my Civil Rights Movement example, discusses how a child's education shapes his thoughts and beliefs later in life. "Girls and boys, in short, would play harmlessly together" is the main idea the Wollstonecraft conveys (45). She says "the doll will never excite [a girl's] attention unless confinement allows her no alternative" and that they would play just as happily participating in 'boy-restricted' play activities (45). 

       In my opinion, this is just yet another example that Wollstonecraft discusses in order to prove that in most situations, confinement seems ridiculous and that female oppression has led to nothing except unexplained prejudice and a lack of equal opportunity, from child play behaviour all the way to adult professions. She stresses the importance of how nature shapes the division of the sexes, but more importantly how society, and mankind, is the true cause for female inequality.


Goodnight, World.

Nature, capital 'N'.

Hello, World.

       Within the first sentence of Mary Wollstonecraft's introduction to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, she mentions Nature and discusses its affect upon gender separation and inequality. She tells us that "either Nature has made a great difference between man and man, or the civilisation which has hitherto taken place in the world has been very partial" (1). She says that the reason, the explanation, for "a great difference" between both sexes is either that Nature has individualised both females and males and has made us so unique that we are naturally forced to be unequal, or as history has unravelled and civilisations have developed, we as humans, our personal opinions, beliefs and views, and the societies we belong to have shaped our attitudes to the other sex, usually of men towards women (1). By the way, notice that huge sentence; I'm clearly trying to imitate Wollstonecraft's writing style.
        Anyways, I want to investigate why Wollstonecraft has used a capital N every time she has written the word nature, such as: "this is the law of Nature" (2) and "Nature invariably produces certain effects" (4). In addition, I want to discuss the times where societal beliefs and actions have been blamed upon nature.
        As mentioned earlier, the word 'Nature' appears many times in the very first few pages. Nature, in its context, describes and categorises all actions and beliefs that seem innate and have become a norm. In fact, her treatment of Nature's definition is similar to socialisation; we can therefore say that Nature describes and categorises all actions and beliefs that seem innate and have become a norm in society. Wollstonecraft's tells us how the obvious gender differences between MOST men and women that nature has indeed created, such as the notion that men are stronger, more violent and wise, whilst women are more pure, intelligent, and caring, has led to stereotypes and discriminating norms. Man, being the stronger sex, is more likely to own a position of power or to be assigned an important task. Woman, on the other hand, is more likely to stay at home and take care of her family. Not only does nature assign specific roles to each gender, it strongly prevents each gender, more importantly women, to step out of their confinement and restricts equal opportunity. This has been seen throughout history, and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the earliest written protest regarding gender issues.
     I wanted to try to fit all my thoughts and arguments on the affects of nature and society regarding female inequality in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in one blog post, but I haven't been able to. I have a lot to discuss! Therefore, I will be starting another sequence, which I will post very shortly. There, I will discuss more about female inequality that society and child upbringing have also severely affected. But for now,

Goodbye, World.