I just read a very interesting essay by Mary Wollstonecraft called "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." It was eye-opening for me. I have never been so caught up in an essay from the Romantic period of literature as I was by this essay. She made some amazing points about how genders are raised to be the way that they are. The sentence that really got my attention was in the first paragraph. "Men, in their youth, are prepared for professions, and marriage is not considered as the grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on the contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties" (Wollstonecraft 189). I am a romantic feminist, I suppose. I really enjoy reading a lot of the feminist literature of this time period because it isn't too far reaching, and it makes sense to me. Mary Wollstonecraft discusses the importance of a mother's education. "In the regulation of a family, in the education of children, understanding in an unsophistacated sense, is particularly required: strength both of body and mind" (Wollstonecraft 192).
For me, this essay meant a lot because it described to me why sometimes I depend a little too much on emotion instead of sense. I believe the strength of the female sex can come from being able to balance sense and sensibility, not going too far in one direction or the other. Just some thoughts of the day... They may not make sense, but it is a rough draft of thought.
