Reader response for Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”

Reading through Mary Wollstonecraft’s work I had to conclude that she was a very well educated
individual, which for an author can create somewhat of a paradox. What do I mean by a paradox for an
author? Simply put, the aim of an author is to reach their readers, whether that is a broad faction of the
population a limited group of peers or a solitary college professor. Each of these different audiences
would require a different level of writing, incorporating additional vocabulary and more complex
sentences structures as you produce literary content specifically crafted for the different groups. On my
journey pursuing a degree in English I noted that the writings produced and the expectations of those
writing would follow a logical progression upward as you make your way from the lower level classes up
and through the mid and high level classes. This is the normal path for virtually all scholastic studies,
well it was for me up until I took English 315 – Professional and Technical Writing. The main focus of the
class seemed to be undoing what we had learned produces a fine literary piece of work, gearing our
wording to reach a very broad audience instead of the limited group of peers or that one professor. As
much as I hate to say it, a dumbing down if you will. For example, the average reading age of virtually
any newspaper in our country is around a seventh grade reading level. If the message is important and
needs to be disseminated to as many people as possible, then the message needs to be a clear and
concise as possible. This author did not have a target audience of the Minot Daily News reader in mind,
but instead fellow well educated individuals, most in particular, the men in power. If nothing else, Ms.
Wollstonecraft is a shining example dispelling the stereotype that women lacked intellectual capability.
I did find Mary’s article somewhat of a hard read, rehashing some sentences several times and still
wondering if I had actually gathered the meaning of what she was attempting to convey. Probably my
favorite line from her writing would be, “Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example
of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper,
OUTWARD obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the
protection of man;” (Wollstonecraft). This plays right in line with the comment I made in the last post
about women being conditioned to THINK they need a man! What a ludicrous notion! I am quite
certain that if ever has aspirations of wanting children, he NEEDS her!