Zorko 1

Karla Zorko

Professor Ljubica Matek, Ph.D.

Survey of English Literature II

29 May 2017

The Importance of Education in Gender Equality

In her work A Vindication of the Right of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft has an answer

for all the political and educational theorists of the eighteenth century who believed women

should not be educated. Wollstonecraft mainly focuses on the fact that women deserve to be

as educated as men are. Women are human beings just like men, and society should

encourage them to think for themselves. The aim of this paper is to delve into various spheres

of women’s lives, and to analyze their position in education, society, marriage by comparing

them with women in today’s society.

Back in Wollstonecraft's time, women were only seen as housewives and objects

whose only purpose was to please men. They were not seen as capable of learning and

providing for a family. Even if women were to stay at home and remain housewives, it is of

great importance that they get properly educated because, for instance, if their child gets ill or

wounded, the mother having at least a basic knowledge in medicine could help save the life of

the child. In situations like that, women could react instantly without having to wait for the

doctor or their husband to arrive.

Women are expected to be great mothers and teachers to their children, but how can

society expect them to be all that if they are never themselves given an opportunity to come to

sensible conclusions and develop logical thinking? In Wollstonecraft's time women were the

ones looking after children, which is why it is crucial that women are educated so as not to
 Zorko 2

deprive their children: “Besides, how should a woman void of reflection be capable of

educating her children?” (Wollstonecraft 49). Wollstonecraft advocates education as the only

key to a better, more understanding society. This new, better society can only be achieved if

women are allowed to receive the same education as men do, and if they learn to control their

emotional side: “ 'Educate women like men,' says Rousseau, 'and the more they resemble our

sex the less power will they have over us.' This is the very point I aim at. I do not wish them

to have power over men; but over themselves” (Wollstonecraft 17).

Furthermore, Wollstonecraft explains how society wants women to be moral and

virtuous, but only teaches them how to appear moral and virtuous. Additionally, it is possible

for knowledgeable people to lack morality, but knowledge is a necessity one must have in

order to reach morality. Everybody should be well-aware of the world surrounding them. In

order to reach morality, there has to be proper education. Hence, society cannot expect

women to be moral if they are not educated: “Without knowledge there can be no morality!”

(Wollstonecraft 17).

Not to mention, there are many differences in the way girls are raised when compared

to boys. The main issue, and the root of all differences, is teaching them differently:

I am fully persuaded that we should hear of none of these infantile airs, if girls were

allowed to take sufficient exercise, and not confined in close rooms till their muscles

are relaxed, and their powers of digestion destroyed. To carry the remark still further,

if fear in girls, instead of being cherished, perhaps, created, was treated in the same

manner as cowardice in boys, we should quickly see women with more dignified

aspects. It is true, they could not then with equal propriety be termed the sweet flowers

that smile in the walk of man; but they would be more respectable members of society,

and discharge the important duties of life by the light of their own reason.

(Wollstonecraft 17)
 Zorko 3

Equally important is the way women of that time perceive the world around them.

They are judged by the male members of society for being too superficial and shallow, but

how can they be blamed when the same thing happens to soldiers? Soldiers, just like women,

are sent into the world before they get the chance to get properly educated and trained.

Therefore, it is not the matter of sex but rather education:

As a proof that education gives this appearance of weakness to females, we may

instance the example of military men, who are, like them, sent into the world before

their minds have been stored with knowledge or fortified by principles. The

consequences are similar; soldiers acquire a little superficial knowledge, snatched

from the muddy current of conversation, and, from continually mixing with society,

they gain, what is termed a knowledge of the world; and this acquaintance with

manners and customs has frequently been confounded with a knowledge of the human

heart. But can the crude fruit of casual observation, never brought to the test of

judgment, formed by comparing speculation and experience, deserve such a

distinction? Soldiers, as well as women, practice the minor virtues with punctilious

politeness. Where is then the sexual difference, when the education has been the same?

(Wollstonecraft 7)

On the other hand, women nowadays do have equal education as men. Obviously we

have come a long way. In theory, women are equal to men in all things, but in practice that is

not always the case. For example, there are many successful women who choose career over

family, but society is still prejudiced against those same women, because, even though many

claim it is not true, women are still seen as the ones who are supposed to bring children to the

world and raise them, leaving aside their careers and everything else, while men are the

breadwinners. Moreover, in some fields such as engineering, science and sports women are

still seen as incapable of succeeding because they cannot have the same approach as men. It
 Zorko 4

does not mean that men are better than women in those areas, it just means that women are

not encouraged enough to participate in those areas. For instance, women’s sports are not

nearly as encouraged and praised as men’s no matter how good they are – the USA’s female

soccer team is a lot better than the male but they do not get enough credit for it and they are

paid less. The same goes for every other sport.

What is more, the only goal for women is to get married and raise children, and when

they reach that goal, their lives are fulfilled as there is nothing else for them to strive for. Girls

are taught from an early age to aspire to marriage as the most important thing in their lives. In

contrast, boys are encouraged to get properly educated and have a career; to them marriage is

just a byproduct. Marriage is supposed to be seen a form of higher friendship, and both

partners should strive for equality, free choice, reason, mutual respect and profound concern

for one another’s moral character:

Wollstonecraft extends her argument that women should exercise equal rights with

men in the public sphere into a critique of the structural inequalities of marriage.

Although a stern critic of “actually existing” marriages, she does not reject marriage as

an institution altogether. Instead, she envisages a form of marriage that incorporates

the major features of the classical notion of higher friendship such as equality, free

choice, reason, mutual esteem and profound concern for one another’s moral

character. The classical ideal of higher friendship provides a suitable model for her

liberal approach to marriage because it represents the paradigmatic rational, equal, and

free relationship. In such relationships, individuals exchange some of their

independence for interdependence and are united by bonds of deep and lasting

affection, as well as respect for and appreciation of one another’s character and

individuality. Wollstonecraft uses the idea that marriage should emulate many of the

features of higher friendship to criticize the practices and values of romance and
 Zorko 5

family life in eighteenth-century English society and to suggest a way in which

marriage might be reconfigured to realize central liberal values. (Abbey 78,79)

In conclusion, education is surely one of the most important factors, if not the

most important one needed to reach gender equality. We cannot expect anyone to

prosper in society without a proper education. It is the same with both female and male

members of society. However, nowadays most people have the chance to get a proper

education but gender inequality is still present.

 Zorko 6

Works Cited

Abbey, Ruth. Back to the Future: Marriage as Friendship in the Thought of Mary

Wollstonecraft. Hypatia, Volume 14, Number 3, 1999, pp. 78-95

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. Fourth Estate, 2014, pp. 13-14

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Oxford University Press, 1993.

Zirin, Dave. “US Women’s Soccer Is More Popular Than Men’s, but the Players Are Still

Paid Less” The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/us-womens-soccer-is-more-

popular-than-mens-but-the-players-are-still-paid-less/