What is the one thing that separates human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom? It is the human’s ability to logically explain an action, decision, or convictions – the capacity to reason. 19th century America was a period in history when women were taught to deny themselves the simple pleasures and happiness of an aesthetic life, while focusing their attention solely on religious teachings and domestic duties. During this time a group of feminists, seen as non-conformists to their society’s strict moral values and social hierarchy, emerged to inspire change in a group of people who had been continually degraded, oppressed and made inferior by their counterpart since the creation of man. Although feminists ideas did not always agree, their common goals were the same: natural rights, freedoms, respect and the understanding that women were just as equally superior as men.

The idea of a perfect woman first started to develop during the early 1800s in colonial America. What was later coined the “cult of true womanhood”, were the four most wanted, most praised attributes that a woman could possess: domesticity, purity, piety and family devotion. As one of the first and earliest feminist writers, Mary Wollstonecraft faced the daunting task of projecting her new age ideas on the rights of women to a mostly skeptical audience of male critics. Her powerful argument was founded on the idea that education and independent thought are necessary to live a virtuous and moral life and called for equality in a society where men completely dominated and a woman’s role was to be submissive. In her treatise, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, Wollstonecraft refuted the supposedly natural state of man being superior to women. While emphasizing issues on education, virtues, passion versus reason, and power, she argued that the current roles and education of women do women more harm than good and simultaneously pushed for a reform that would provide women with broader and deeper learning and understanding opportunities. She preached that intellect always governs and sought “to persuade women to endeavor to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment and refinement of taste are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness.” Wollstonecraft was a radical in the sense that she desired to bridge the gap between mankind’s present mindset on a woman’s ultimate perfection and how women of the century really felt. One main difference that separated her from other feminists at the time was her lack of hatred towards males. While others blamed men for their oppression in society, she stated that it was in fact the woman’s fault for allowing this standard to thrive in society for so long. She helped women achieve a better life, not only for themselves and their children, but also for their husbands.

Although a large group of feminists emerged around this time period to fight for the rights for women, their ideas on different issues were not always the same. The history of the modern western feminist movement divided into three different sections/waves; each wave dealt with different aspects of the same feminist issues.

The first wave was comprised of women’s suffrage movements and women’s right to vote, the second wave was associated with the ideas and actions of the women’s liberation movement at the beginning of the 1960s and the third wave was a continuation of and a reaction to the failures of second-wave feminism.[1]

One feminist that would be like to support Wollstonecraft is Marilyn Frye. Frye claimed that traditional ethics was too preoccupied with questions about goodness because people that religiously follow societal standards are not only interested in doing what they think is right, but also forcing their beliefs and values on others. Frye preached that as long as women continue to accept this standard, than everyone, including men, will continue to still believe that women are naturally inferior to men.[2]

Another supporter probably would have been Florence Nightengale. Nightengale argued against the only two roles women of her time period could have: to either marry (usually a stranger) or to continue to live in the home of her parents as a dependent and later as a caretaker of relatives[3] - “it is hoped that that if they don’t marry, they will at least be quiet” (Nightengale). Either way, the woman is left penniless and dependent on someone other than herself. Florence fought so that women would be allowed to develop their intellect and that they might find meaningful work in service to their community.

Although there was a lot of support for Wollstonecrafts ideas on feminist theory, there were still those who proposed even more radical or traditional ideas in contrast to her own. One feminist who would have criticized Wollstonecraft’s theory is Mary Astell. Through her anonymous essays and pamphlets, Astell weighed in on some of the most controversial issues of the 19th century, particularly those that focused on the status of women in society. Although like Wollstonecraft she believed that women should be allowed to receive an education, she also expressed her belief that women should not be forced into marriage and promoted the idea of convent, where unmarried women could fully devote themselves education and religious concerns.

While most other women of her time were considered to have radical beliefs, Kerstet was a feminist that like to stay close to tradition. A successful lawyer and banker, Kersten held a lot of weight on controversial issues of her time. Although she believed in capitalism, and a hierarchal society, (two things that Wollstonecraft was against) she didn’t feel like those two related to the issue of equality among men and women. She also didn’t feel like women should just completely drop their domestic duties: a career is fine, but being a mother and a wife comes first. During the feminist issue, divorce was also a serious issue. Many women felt that they should not be forced to stay in a marriage that was not working, but Kersten believed that a marriage should be kept together at all costs. She felt that radical feminists who were trying to tear down the social construct of society were not only victimizing themselves but the entire community and her traditional stance on the feminist issue was probably a way for her to gain the approval of both parties.

Since the beginning of time, women have always been seen as inferior/second rate to men. During the 19th century a group of feminists, seen as non-conformists to their society’s strict moral values and social hierarchy, emerged to inspire change in a group of people who had been continually degraded, oppressed and made inferior the creation of man.

All of these women attempted to revise, reformulate and rethink tradition ethics in concern to women’s moral experience and although their ideas did not always agree, their common goals were the same: natural rights, freedoms, respect and the understanding that women were just as equally superior as men.

[1] Krolokke, Charlotte; Anne Scott Sorensen (2005). “Three Waves of Feminism: From Suffragettes to Grrls”. Gender Communication Theories and      Analyses:From Silence to Performance. Sage. p. 24.

[2] Frye, Marilyn. (1991) “A response to Lesbian Ethics: Why ethics?” Feminist Ethics. University Press of Kansas. p. 52-59.

[3] McDonald, Lynn. “Florence Nightengale: Passionate Statistician.” Journal of Hodistic Nursing 16.2. (1988): 267-77.