A Vindication of the Rights of Women in STEM

As I have discussed before, women are degraded by their circumstance (166), and this is no more applicable than to the women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It appears that many of the very arguments I constructed against sexism and the patriarchy in 1792 still apply on this matter, and so I will deliver them appropriately once again.

Firstly, I would like to offer a reminder of the importance of education in the development of a woman’s virtue, considering virtue is built on a foundation of understanding (169). During my time, it was evident that women were far too emotional and had too much sensibility due to a lack of education, thus suffering an underdevelopment of their virtue. Women were underprepared, faced no struggle, and had lives revolving around pleasure. Women lacked individual faculties and relied on men to decide even the simplest of tasks on their behalf, seeing marriage as the “the grand feature in their lives” (176). The government and education system thoroughly failed women during my time, leaving them with no power and, frankly, weak and brainless. It seems that the opportunity of education and the overall progress of women’s development has improved since then, to my delight.

Still, it has been made obvious that women attempting to broaden their understanding and virtue in the field of STEM, as I understand many people call it, have been met with a force of men who continue to believe that their knowledge and decisions are chief in all matters. These men refuse to accept the lack of reliance women require from them after developing their own thoughts and virtue. Women’s history of vanity and foolishness that grew from their limited circumstance is still expected by men, causing them to keep women from positions and attempt to intimidate them with their abject, controlling demeanor. Men in this field try to persuade women that their chief power is their sensibility (181), but I urge you women, do not yield in your efforts.

At the time of my writing of “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” I described the necessity of changing women’s circumstances in the hopes that contingency could be investigated. This, my fellow women, is the change in circumstance we have wished for. The successes made in this change of circumstance proves the capability of women to achieve and formulate their own objects. It seems necessary that in the present time we must further change circumstance in eliminating the systems and behaviors supporting masculinity and degrading femininity. Our experience will continue to be contingent until these structures are demolished.

Mary Wollstonecraft

*Author consulted Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, chapter 4 for this post