Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will quickly become good wives; - that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques how societal standards of beauty can confine women, shaping their minds to focus on physical appearance rather than intellect.
Mary Wollstonecraft's quote highlights the detrimental effects of societal expectations on women, arguing that from a young age, they are taught to equate their worth with beauty. This preoccupation creates a mental prison where the pursuit of adornment overshadows personal development and intellect, ultimately limiting their potential and freedom.
Themes
BeautyWomenSocietyIntellectFreedomPrisonSelf-Worth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about gender equality during a women's rights rally.
More from Mary Wollstonecraft
All quotes βBut what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!
Mary WollstonecraftRead
The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger.
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Women are degraded by the propensity to enjoy the present moment, and, at last, despise the freedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain.
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Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and defections of their race, in a premature and unnatural manner, undermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole mass of society!
Mary WollstonecraftRead
It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain must be obtained by their charms and weaknesses.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
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