Mary Wollstonecraft: the power of the pen 

Some grrls are ahead of their time.  Mary Wollstonecraft, born in London in 1759, was way ahead.  In fact, you might argue that we still haven’t caught up! 

When Mary opened a school in 1784 she soon came to realize that the subjects grrls were studying did nothing to prepare them for life...instead, grrls were being taught to look pretty and leave the thinking up to the men!  Mary went on the warpath and took up her pen.  She started writing and publishing articles on the rights of grrls to an equal education, the need for women to have economic and social independence from men and the role of religion in preventing women from reaching equality.

Her outspoken views brought her to the attention of supportive liberals and not so supportive conservatives.  On one side of the fence, she was hailed as a champion of women’s educational rights.  On the other?  Well, she was once described as “a hyena in petticoats”!  Mary didn’t let that stop her though...she kept right on writing.

Although she had been raised an Anglican, Mary left that church after denouncing its role in oppressing women.  She joined Joseph Priestly, a leader of a quasi-religious organization known as the Rational Dissenters, a group that logic and personal choice should rule in matters of morality.  While Mary was a member, the Rational Dissenters grew into the Unitarian Society, a group that even today remains a champion of equality and social justice. 
 
Mary continued to attack traditional teaching methods, and branched out into even more confrontational politics, criticizing the English King and the French Monarchy.  She spoke loud and clear about the evils of slavery, her disgust at the lack of sympathy for the poor, and her support of democracy over monarchy.  She described marriage as “legal prostitution” and “a convenient slavery”.  Even fellow radicals were starting to think Mary was going to far, and they encouraged her to stop writing for a while.  Instead, Mary got even louder!  Soon, King George III was issuing proclamations against seditious writings and meetings, and Mary made the list of ‘banned’ authors...maybe the first woman author to have her writing banned in recent history!
  
Practicing what she preached about marriage, Mary fell in love and had a child with a fellow named Gilbert Imlay but refused to marry.  The relationship didn’t last, and Mary’s daughter Fanny lived with Gilbert while Mary continued her crusade for equality.

A few years after Fanny was born though, Mary fell in love again, and this time she married William Godwin in 1797 (though they had seperate houses and Mary didn’t change her name!).  She brought Fanny to live with them, and Mary soon gave birth to a second daughter (also named Mary).  Mary became ill as a result of the pregnancy, and died a few weeks after her daughter was born.  

Mary spent her entire life fighting for grrls like us.  She fought for equal rights, equal education, equal say in financial, religious, and political systems.  She never saw her dreams come true, and some of those dreams still haven’t.  It’s up to us to pick up where Mary’s writings left off, and ensure that grrls now and forever will have the same opportunities as their brothers. 

 

Leslie Clay grrl-e-grrl.com contributor