Should Mary Wollstonecraft and Hannah More be defined as feminists?
Like any ideology, there is not a defining answer as to what feminism means. The Oxford English Dictionary defines feminism as the “advocacy of equality of the sexes and the establishment of the political, social, and economic rights of the female sex”. The term ‘feminist’ itself has been used in the United Kingdom since the 1880s but it’s philosophy had been dated back centuries before. Since then it’s meaning has evolved into different branches from radical feminism to liberal feminism for example, and is used on a political platform. It is fact that both Mary Wollstonecraft and Hannah More are examples of women who philosophised about women’s rights and their place in society. They both produced published works discussing women in society focused upon educational reform, and many have debated the extent to which they should be considered feminists. However, although their views contradicted each other, based on the modern day definition of feminism, both Wollstonecraft and More should be considered feminists for numerous reasons.
Firstly, it is indisputable that Mary Wollstonecraft was a feminist and even as far to be considered as the “founder of western feminism”. In Wollstonecraft’s writings, a new female value is consciously introduced and effectively infused into a movement across the late eighteenth century. There are many books that focus on Wollstonecraft’s thought alone as they all depict the influences and meanings of feminism to Wollstonecraft. They all commonly convey significance, individuality and authenticity, as well as emphasising the need to display itself for the attentions of others in trying to establish a movement.
Battling against male superiority all her life, Wollstonecraft’s views become more defiant in her later life and at the end of the eighteenth century. The