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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Mary Wollstonecraft · 1792 (composed); finished and published in 1792 primary

passage 124 of 162 · CHAPTER 1. THE RIGHTS AND INVOLVED DUTIES OF MANKIND CONSIDERED. > CHAPTER 9. (9/9)

in brief
She appeals to men to break women’s chains and accept rational fellowship, predicting better relationships and “better citizens,” and frames emancipation as making women a help meet for men.

fellow-creature claim, in the name of my sex, some interest in their hearts. I entreat them to assist to emancipate their companion to make her a help meet for them!

Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship, instead of slavish obedience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers--in a word, better citizens. We should then love them with true affection, because we should learn to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a worthy man would not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife, nor his babes sent to nestle in a strange bosom, having never found a home in their mother's.

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topics: political legitimacy and consent · rights and liberties

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman · Mary Wollstonecraft · 1792