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Vindication of The Rights of Women: Analytical Essay on Societies’ Double Standards
Log One: Societies’ double standards
Taylor Swift has grown to be a global superstar and household name. Swift wrote and released her first, self-titled album Taylor Swift when she was just sixteen years old and has amassed an empire since then. In 2019, Swift realised her much anticipated seventh studio album, Lover. This brings us to the theme of Log One: double standards within society. The Man is the fourth track on Swifts album Lover with the songs underlying theme being double standards within society and whether, as a man, Swift would be perceived differently by the public eye than what she is now.
As mentioned previously, The Man is a song about double standards within society, with this essay analysing some of Swifts lyrics and connecting them to Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Within the song, Swift writes the lyrics, Id be a fearless leader, Id be an alpha type . These lyrics are particularly important because they imply that because Swift is a woman, she cannot be a leader or an alpha within society because these two notions are not compatible with being what a woman should be by societal norms. Throughout history, men have always been associated with being strong, protective and dominant, which supposedly is synonymous with perfect leadership; society says that because men are stronger and dominant, they should be the ones who lead. This is a prime example of double standards within society; its okay for men to be strong and assertive, but its frowned upon if a woman does the same. Historically, women have always been the inferior sex who were only put on this earth to please and serve men. Women have always been viewed as softer and less brutish than men, and there has always been an expectation that women should not voice their opinion and should always be subdued and stand in the corner looking pretty. This can be corroborated to Wollstonecraft who vehemently disagrees with these societal expectations of women within her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women in which she writes, 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 . Wollstonecraft very clearly recognises that women being synonymous with sensitivity, refinement and delicacy is also associated with weakness and lack of ability, something that is not synonymous with leadership. Wollstonecraft implies that women should rebel against societal expectations of them and take control of their own destinies rather than the destinies that men could provide for them. This can also be corroborated to the lyrics that Swift writes, as the lyrics within the song imply that society looks down and scrutinises women if they are strong and assertive, which can also be corroborated back to Wollstonecraft, where she writes, strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty . Wollstonecraft, throughout her work, wants women to overlook societies social expectations of themselves, which is something that Swift is alluding to within her song, The Man.
Log Two: Marriage and Children in Contemporary Society
Within A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft alludes to women only having some form of place or power within society through marriage. Wollstonecraft writes, the only way a woman can rise in the world marriage . Within this quote, Wollstonecraft implies that women must have a man in their life to succeed within the world and that without marriage or a man, women cannot get as far as they could if they did have a man. It is as though Wollstonecraft recognises that society unfortunately always expects a man to be behind a womens success. This quote also implies that women need a man to be successful in life and cannot achieve success whilst alone and that marriage is crucial for women to move up the social hierarchy ladder. Through this quote, Wollstonecraft accidentally alludes to the glass ceiling concept which is an intangible barrier which prevents women from progressing within the working hierarchical system. Because this metaphoric glass ceiling exists, women are likely focusing more on having a career rather than children because of the difficulties that they face when trying to get a good position within work in comparison to a man.
Even in contemporary society, it is still expected of women to marry a man and have children when the time is right. I watched a Podcast in which one of the narrators, Cristine, expresses that she does not want children despite persistent questions from her friends, family and people from the internet about when she is going to have children and get married to the other narrator, Ben . This can be corroborated to Wollstonecraft because of how she recognises that within society, it is expected that women get married to somehow climb the ladder within society, when in reality, it should not be this be this way and women can create their own success without being married, just as Cristine has from the podcast. Marriage is not a necessary requirement for women to succeed in the world, but, as mentioned previously, society seemingly always expects a man to behind a womans success and a womans success is always more so scrutinised and picked apart by society than men. This can also be linked to log ones theme of double standards because women are always more scrutinised for their success, whereas men are usually congratulated on their success; men do not need marriage to rise in the world, so therefore neither should women.
Within the podcast, Cristine also explains that she does not want children and that there is an existing historical pressure on women that once they reach a certain age or have been in a relationship for a while that they must have children . Wollstonecraft also recognises this within A Vindication of the Rights of Women in which she writes, I do not wish them to have power over men, but power over themselves . This implies that women do not have the power to make their own life decisions or decisions in general and that men are the ones who should make decisions for women about certain things such as having children because women are viewed as weak, silly and uneducated. This can be corroborated to Cristine as it is as though her friends, family and others have made the decision for her about whether she will have children, and that it is expected of her to have children despite not wanting children because she is happy as she is and has never been maternal; it is also expected that all women are maternal and should want children but this is not the case and should not be the case.
Log Three: Womens Education
Wollstonecraft believed that every woman should have the right to an equal education. Throughout A Vindication for the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft implies that women are robbed of their right to access the same education as boys. Wollstonecraft writes, In the middle rank of life, to continue the comparison, men, in their youth, are prepared for professions and marriage is not considered a grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on the contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties . This implies that women are not worthy of the same education as men have, which could be connected to the trivial view of women being weak and stupid with their only purpose being to please and serve men. Wollstonecraft also believed that the ideal woman would be free and educated, however, this is not possible in a world that is set up by men, to only benefit men which is something that is still unfortunately prevalent in less economically developed countries today.
Across the globe, women continue to suffer from patriarchal societies that keep them from receiving the same access to education as their male counterparts . In less economically developed countries, most women still do not seem to have access to a basic education and are excluded from education just because they are female. According to an article I read by Forbes, only 14% of low-income women graduate from secondary school . This is disgraceful, every female has the right to an education and there are also disadvantages to women not having access to a proper education such as lack of education on sex and contraception which inevitably leads to larger families and overpopulation, along with high infant mortality rates . There are clearly benefits of educating women, which Wollstonecraft also recognises within A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Wollstonecraft writes, Day schools, for particular ages, should be established by government, in which boys and girls might be educated together . By suggesting educating boys and girls together, Wollstonecraft is also eliminating discrimination against females and is also contributing to a more equal society; if boys are educated with girls from a young age, they will less likely discriminate against girls and therefore also have more respect for girls and women. In addition to this, by suggesting equality within education, Wollstonecraft is also allowing women to sharpen their faculties and therefore allowing women to not be viewed as inferior and unintelligent, which therefore will also change modern societal views across the world and in less economically developed countries where, as mentioned in the Forbes article, many women are still discriminated and denied an education, simply because they are female.
Log Four: The Sexual Objectification of Women
Within A Vindication for the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft alludes to the idea that women are only put onto this earth to serve and gratify men. Unfortunately, for much of history there has always been a gender divide; men are the ones who work and bring money to their homes and women are the babymakers whos purpose is to find a husband to climb the social hierarchy and look after their husbands. On page 565 of A Vindication for the Rights of Women Wollstonecraft writes, Men who, considering females rather as women than human creatures, have been more anxious to make them alluring mistresses than affectionate wives . This strongly implies that women are viewed as mere sex objects to men, and that women are therefore below men within society. This also implies that women are also objectified and only viewed as pleasure for men rather than life partners because of how women are perceived as weak and incapable in terms of mental capacity in comparison to men; this is a stereotype set up by men to oppress women so that men can maintain control and power. Wollstonecraft is also therefore alluding to gender stereotypes of women that have unfortunately been carried into our society today.
In contemporary times, there is still the existing gender stereotype of women being sexual objects for male gratification rather than human beings that are equal to men. These gender stereotypes are unfortunately fuelled by modern media which contributes to the hyper sexualization of women through magazines, TV and social media. According to an informative page I read by UNICEF, nearly 1 in 5 girls are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lifetime . This is likely not only due to hyper sexualisation from the media, but also due to gender stereotypes of women that have been in existence for centuries; men think that they can have their way with women because they have always been viewed as inferior and unintelligent, and men have always been the Braun with power over women which is likely due to society being set up to favour men over women. These harmful gender stereotypes also likely contribute to the normalisation of violence against women and therefore the sexual objectification of women; if men see women as objects rather than humans with feelings because of hyper sexualization, more women are unfortunately going to suffer from sexual abuse. This can be corroborated to A Vindication for the Rights of Women in which Wollstonecraft writes, they [women] are treated as a kind of subordinate beings and not part of the human species . This, unfortunately, is still extremely prevalent in modern society by the continuous oversexualisation of women in the media, which re-enforces the view of women being subordinate beings, just as Wollstonecraft points out within A Vindication of the rights of Women. This can also be corroborated to log one with Swifts song, The Man, in which Swift writes the lyrics, What I was wearing, if I was rude, could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves which implies that women are more often judged for what they wear, therefore also oversexualising women, rather than if they are educated which also therefore supports Wollstonecrafts argument that women are viewed as subordinate beings whos whole purpose is to serve men and look pretty for men instead of being intelligent and contributing to society.
Bibliography
- Gutterman, Alison. ‘It’s Time To Get Serious About Educating Women Around The World’. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2018/09/10/its-time-to-get-serious-about-educating-women-around-the-world-the-economy-will-thank-us/#741e0cb76ed9.
- Wilson, Lana. 2020. Miss Americana. Film. United States: Tremolo Productions.
- Swift, Taylor, Little, Joel. 2019. The Man. Online. New York City: Republic Records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqAJLh9wuZ0.
- SimplyPodLogical. 2020. ‘SimplyPodLogical #3’. Podcast. Relationships, Children & why Ben won’t propose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WywN547im8s&t=3569s.
- Wollstonecraft, Mary. 1792. A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
- Miss Americana, 2020, [Online], Lana Wilson, United States, Tremolo Productions, Viewed on 31/03/2020, Netflix.
- Swift, Jaimee & Gould, Hannah. 2020. ‘Not An Object: On Sexualization and Exploitation of Women and Girls’. UNICEF USA. https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/not-object-sexualization-and-exploitation-women-and-girls/30366.
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