A Vindication of the Rights of Woman | Page 9

superiority cannot be denied--and it is a noble prerogative! But not
content with this natural pre-eminence, men endeavour to sink us still
lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment; and women,
intoxicated by the adoration which men, under the influence of their
senses, pay them, do not seek to obtain a durable interest in their hearts,
or to become the friends of the fellow creatures who find amusement in
their society.
I am aware of an obvious inference: from every quarter have I heard
exclamations against masculine women; but where are they to be found?
If, by this appellation, men mean to inveigh against their ardour in
hunting, shooting, and gaming, I shall most cordially join in the cry;
but if it be, against the imitation of manly virtues, or, more properly
speaking, the attainment of those talents and virtues, the exercise of
which ennobles the human character, and which raise females in the
scale of animal being, when they are comprehensively termed

mankind--all those who view them with a philosophical eye must, I
should think, wish with me, that they may every day grow more and
more masculine.
This discussion naturally divides the subject. I shall first consider
women in the grand light of human creatures, who, in common with
men, are placed on this earth to unfold their faculties; and afterwards I
shall more particularly point out their peculiar designation.
I wish also to steer clear of an error, which many respectable writers
have fallen into; for the instruction which has hitherto been addressed
to women, has rather been applicable to LADIES, if the little indirect
advice, that is scattered through Sandford and Merton, be excepted; but,
addressing my sex in a firmer tone, I pay particular attention to those in
the middle class, because they appear to be in the most natural state.
Perhaps the seeds of false refinement, immorality, and vanity have ever
been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings raised above the
common wants and affections of their race, in a premature unnatural
manner, undermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption
through the whole mass of society! As a class of mankind they have the
strongest claim to pity! the education of the rich tends to render them
vain and helpless, and the unfolding mind is not strengthened by the
practice of those duties which dignify the human character. They only
live to amuse themselves, and by the same law which in nature
invariably produces certain effects, they soon only afford barren
amusement.
But as I purpose taking a separate view of the different ranks of society,
and of the moral character of women, in each, this hint is, for the
present, sufficient; and I have only alluded to the subject, because it
appears to me to be the very essence of an introduction to give a
cursory account of the contents of the work it introduces.
My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational
creatures, instead of flattering their FASCINATING graces, and
viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable
to stand alone. I earnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and
human happiness consists--I wish to persuade women to endeavour to
acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them, that the
soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and
refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness,

and that those beings who are only the objects of pity and that kind of
love, which has been termed its sister, will soon become objects of
contempt.
Dismissing then those pretty feminine phrases, which the men
condescendingly use to soften our slavish dependence, and despising
that weak elegancy of mind, exquisite sensibility, and sweet docility of
manners, supposed to be the sexual characteristics of the weaker vessel,
I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the first object of
laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a human being, regardless
of the distinction of sex; and that secondary views should be brought to
this simple touchstone.
This is a rough sketch of my plan; and should I express my conviction
with the energetic emotions that I feel whenever I think of the subject,
the dictates of experience and reflection will be felt by some of my
readers. Animated by this important object, I shall disdain to cull my
phrases or polish my style--I aim at being useful, and sincerity will
render me unaffected; for wishing rather to persuade by the force of my
arguments, than dazzle by the elegance of my language, I shall not
waste my time in rounding periods, nor in fabricating the turgid
bombast of artificial feelings, which, coming from the head, never
reach the