An English writer of modest origins, Mary Wollstonecraft supported herself as a teacher, translator and author. In 1792 she published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, arguing that women only seemed inferior for lack of education. She died young, days after giving birth to her daughter, the future author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley.
Core ideas
Supposed female inferiority comes from lack of education, not from nature
Women and men have the same reason and deserve the same rights
Marriage should be a friendship between equals, not a form of submission
The tradition: Liberal feminism
Liberal feminism seeks equal rights, education and opportunities for women through reason and law. Wollstonecraft is its pioneer, applying Enlightenment ideals to women.
