A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is a 1791 book of feminist
philosophy by Mary Wollstonecraft. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to
the educational and political theorists of the eighteenth century who
wanted to deny women an education. She argues that women ought to have
an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that
women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and
because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere
wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to
be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human
beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men. Wollstonecraft
was prompted to write the Rights of Woman by Charles Maurice de
Talleyrand-Périgord's 1791 report to the French National Assembly which
stated that women should only receive a domestic education; she used
her commentary on this specific event to launch a broad attack against
sexual double standards and to indict men for encouraging women to
indulge in excessive emotion. Wollstonecraft wrote the Rights of Woman
hurriedly in order to respond directly to ongoing events; she intended
to write a more thoughtful second volume, but she died before
completing it.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Vindication_of_the_Rights_of_Woman>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1521:
Filipino natives led by chieftain Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan and over forty Spanish soldiers at the Battle of
Mactan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mactan>
1565:
Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and 500 armed soldiers arrived at
Cebu and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_L%C3%B3pez_de_Legazpi>
1805:
First Barbary War: U.S. Marines engaged forces of the Barbary Coast at
the Battle of Derne in Tripoli, marking the first recorded land battle
by the United States on foreign soil.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Derne>
1909:
After the government was restored following the 31 March Incident and
the Adana massacre, Abdul Hamid II, the last Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire to rule with absolute power, was overthrown by Mehmed V.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_massacre>
1967:
The Expo 67 World's Fair opened in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with over
50 million visitors and 62 nations participating.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_67>
1992:
Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the British House of
Commons.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boothroyd>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
miscreant (n):
1. One who has behaved badly, or illegally
2. One not restrained by moral principles; an unscrupulous villain
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miscreant>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to
fill the world with fools.
--Herbert Spencer
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herbert_Spencer>