Introduction
The modern feminist movement owes much to its godmother Mary Wollstonecraft and her classic treatise written at the very end of the 18th century. The main idea of Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) was that women should receive the same education as men. A woman is perceived as a secondary person in relation to a man while being deprived of independence. The educational system of the 18th century for women existed in a completely different format, where the acquisition of knowledge in various academic disciplines was reduced. This distinction degrades women by forcing them to exist in a system where they are perceived as servants of men. It is in this way that a woman is unable to accomplish a feat or create anything great since the system in which she is located is not intended for the independent exaltation of a female subject. This struggle with the objectification and functionality of women submissive to men has certainly survived to this day.
Discussion
Throughout the 19th century, the idea of women’s emancipation was transformed in line with the growing need for rights. Suffragist author Elizabeth Stanton (1848) points out, in much the same terms as Wollstonecraft, that a man gave a woman a different code of morality in order to belittle her respect for herself and deprive her of her voice. It should be borne in mind that the rights of suffragettes could not materialize if there were not a prerequisite for this given through greater access to education, won directly by Mary Wollstonecraft. The commonalities existing between feminist theories of various generations lie in the ever-growing expansion of female rights and can be explained by the logical progression of feminist thought. Modern feminism exists in a slightly different academic context, striving to understand the principle of feminine independence through modern philosophical parameters, in the same way as Diana Fuss (1989) does through the mechanism of deconstruction. However, she also tries in this way to understand what the essence of a woman is, abstracted from the role that the male community is trying to give her.
Abolitionism and feminism are linked by the struggle for independence and the desire of a marginalized group to expand their rights to a better life. However, the fight against prejudice may be focused on the needs of a particular group and not take into account other groups that are equally or even more vulnerable. In particular, the suffragist theorist and practitioner Susan Anthony (1872) uses the metaphor of a slave to more accurately describe the condition of a woman in a patriarchal society and in particular in marriage. She does this through the logic of serving a man, which turns out to be dominant in the then-patriarchal ideas. Race and gender intersect in the space of allegory in order to evoke contempt in women for the order in which they find themselves.
This is one of the only classical feminist texts in which the problem of slavery is raised in principle. Kolmar and Bartkowski (2015) outline that in the 19th century famous feminist activists, such as Florence Nightingale, were focusing merely on the problems of gender oppression with no regard to racial questions. This emphasizes that for most feminists of the 19th century, the problem of abolitionism did not play a role, which proves the presence of problematic and intolerant stereotypes even in the ideas of suffragettes. This emphasizes that the intended audience of authors such as Anthony and Nightingale is educated white women who are married or who are destined to enter into it.
Conclusion
The level of aristocracy of this audience still does not allow them to perceive people of another race as anything more than an analogy to their condition. The focus of these authors is on breaking the established oppressive social norms in the privileged and aristocratic circles.
References
Anthony, S. B. (1872). Speech after arrest for illegal voting. The History Place. Web.
Fuss, D. (1989). Essentially speaking: Feminism, nature and difference. Routledge.
Kolmar, W. K., & Bartkowski, F. (2015). Feminist theory: a reader. McGraw Hill.
Stanton, E. (1848). Declaration of sentiments. National Park Service. Web.
Wollstonecraft, M. (1792). A Vindication of the rights of woman. British Library. Web.