Mary Wollstonecraft and Education: A Critique of Contemporary Gender Inequalities

una crítica a las desigualdades de género contemporáneas

Abstract

What are the limitations of contemporary educational systems in terms of equality, and which of Mary Wollstonecraft's proposals remain relevant to address them? This article examines Wollstonecraft's ideas in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), contrasting them with Rousseau's conservative theses on women's education: where Rousseau reduces women's formation to subordinate roles, Wollstonecraft champions egalitarian education for intellectual and moral autonomy. The analysis unfolds through three axes—first, by probing both authors' theoretical foundations to reveal how knowledge restriction reinforces domination structures and curtails individual development; next, by addressing the social and ethical consequences of this exclusion, demonstrating how equitable education enables moral refinement and collective progress; finally, by evaluating Wollstonecraft's enduring relevance in confronting today's educational challenges. Employing a hermeneutic methodology for critical textual interpretation alongside analytical rigor, this study assesses both the argumentative strength of these foundational texts and their contemporary implications for gender equity in education.