"I doubt whether pity and love are so near akin as poets feign, for I have seldom seen much compassion excited by the helplessness of females, unless they were fair; then, perhaps, pity was the soft handmaid of love, or the harbinger of lust."
"For men of the greatest abilities have seldom had sufficient strength to rise above the surrounding atmosphere; and, if the pages of genius have always been blurred by the prejudices of the age, some allowance should be made for a sex, who, like kings, always sees things through a false medium."
“‘Educate women like men,’ says Rousseau, ‘and the more they resemble our sex the less power they will have over us.’ This is the very point I aim at. I do not wish them to have power over men; but over themsleves.” (P. 441.)
“I love man as my fellow; but his sceptre, real or ursurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is to reason, and not to man. In fact, the conduct of an accountable being must be regulated by the operations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the throne of God?” (P. 435.)
Mary Wollstonecraft’s death at age 38 of complications due to childbirth deprived the world of an able mind at the point when her philosophical views were reaching maturity. Even so, she left us with 12 books, numerous articles, and a daughter (Mary Shelley) who would go on to write the classic novel Frankenstein. Like many other philosophers, her experience helped shape her writings. So it is not surprising that the experiences of a young woman in the eighteenth century would cause her works to demonstrate a different perspective of human nature than her male colleagues. Her experience as a teacher led her to stress the importance of equality of access to education for all, from birth. She felt that most people use their reason to support common prejudices rather than undermine them. This includes assumptions about the nature of men and women, as well as forms of government and social structures.
This doesn’t mean that she has nothing in common with her male counterarts. Like many writing at the time, Wollstonecraft is convinced that reason is the key defining characteristic of human nature. However, Wollstonecraft will argue (long before Mill and Marx) that social factors, discrimination, cultural expectations, authoritarian practices, and unequal education, diminish the abilities of men and women to reach their full potential intellectually and emotionally. While those in power may find it easier to control those who don’t think for themselves, such practices diminish society as a whole. Wollstonecraft argues that there is no reliable evidence to indicate that men and women differ in capacity to reason. Reason is necessary for happiness, virtue, and the advancement of civilization. Therefore, we ought to end social practices and expectations which stifle the development of the ability to reason, for all genders.