Summary
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the earliest and most influential works of feminist philosophy. Written by Mary Wollstonecraft, a pioneering advocate for women's equality, the book passionately argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear so only because they lack access to education and social opportunity.
Wollstonecraft responds to 18th-century thinkers like Rousseau who claimed women should be educated only for the pleasure of men.
She counters this by asserting that women are rational beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men, particularly the right to be educated, to think independently, and to participate fully in society—not merely as wives or mothers, but as equal citizens.