Critical View of On the Equality of the Sexes by Judith Sargent Murray - Essay Example

Critical View of “On the Equality of the Sexes” essay The advent of feminism in 1790’s was widely seen as a turning point for women’s role in the society. Even though ancient writers effectively wrote on the need of educational reforms and the role of women to improve their situation, it is revolutions in the America and France that created an opportunity for re-shaping the social order as well as political context between male and female sexes. Judith Sargent Mullay wrote widely on the role of women in the new America and the unfolding political changes in France. According to Judith, the philosophy of natural rights as enshrined in American Declaration of Independence and the end of superior treatment of man marked the turnaround for women. Judith exhibited high degree of intelligence which her parents noticed during her younger age and encouraged her to study with her brother. According to Smith, gender bias was creation of our founding fathers and mothers (105). Notably, the Declaration of Independence in the America gave an impression that men were born equal and free and could only be governed at their own will. In the nineteenth century, women increasingly participated in various efforts to improve their social status, rights and defend their place in the society. The very first women rights movement emerged from shared sense of discontents facing many women. They capitalized on women antislavery experience and in 1850’s they joined hands in promoting broad agenda for married women to acquire property rights. Judith Sargent Murray was born in Massachusetts, Gloucester in May 1751from a wealthy family that engaged in trade in both West Indies and England. Judith grew up with her brother, Winthrop who was educated by her parents in order to go to Harvard. However, Judith only received rudimentary education and basic needlework in preparation for marriage. This discriminatory treatment irritated her and eventually she chose to dedicate herself to advocacy for women education and equal rights in male chauvinist society (Murray 134). Judith was married to John Stevens in 1769. She made proper use of her family extensive resources which enable her turn her quest of knowledge and love of reading into a prolific writing career. When Stevens was away, Judith published her first essay titled “Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, especially in Female Bosoms” in 1784. Stevens died in 1786 and she was married by John Murray in 1988 with whom she had two children. In 1790’s she wrote for Massachusetts Magazine an essay titled, “On the Equality of the Sexes”. Others include “The Gleaner,” that focused on citizenship, federalism, abilities, virtue and female education, “The Repository,” that emphasized on reflection, philosophy and Universalists subjects. When Judith and her husband moved to Boston, she was offered a column in a biweekly newspaper called Federal Orrery. However, she only submitted five essays and eventually had to cut ties with the newspaper when she received a backlash after allegations that her husband John did most of the writing. This essay compares and contrasts the various critical views of, “On the Equality of the Sexes” essay. This essay opens with a poem which expresses Judith feelings towards oppression and education for women. It further stresses how the society silences women and how the male chauvinists disregard women. She expresses her frustrations when she say men thinks that women appreciate and love little thighs that do not matter when in real sense they appreciate and love similar things that men do. This is one of the bases of “On the Equality of the Sexes” in which she tries to depict how men and women are equal both rationally and intellectually hence the need to be taught the same way as they grow up (Mays 78). The essay also challenges the notion that men possess greater intellect than women. In this respect, Judith argues that intelligence of both women and men are as a result of discrimination and prejudice that prevent women from sharing the full range of experiences and privileges enjoyed by men. Through “On the Equality of the Sexes” essay, Judith seeks to transform women from a problem to a solution. She emphasized that women have equal potential as men and the ancient education only sought to prepare them to become wives hence wasteful and therefore classical education would save them from unhappiness. Further, she points out that if she could have been accorded the same education as her brother, ample field would be opened and her mind would just be as rational as that of any other man (Murray 56). In this regard, Judith advocates women to equally get same education as men to also develop their mind in order to help men in their work. Siniopoli argues that without education and capacity to learn new things Judith experiences a mortifying consciousness of inferiority which equally embitters every enjoyment (24). Further, lack of education makes women feel less equal to men leading to sadness and frustrations that even makes most enjoyable things in life not sufficient to make them happy. With this, Judith contends that any form of intellectual inferiority that women suffer emanates from the way they are raised, but not from natural inabilities. Basically, both males and females are born with same mind, but males receive education that makes them more knowledgeable. Contrary, females are taught chores that do not promote thinking hence allow men to believe that they are more superior to their female’s counterparts. Judith reflects this scenario to her own life. While her brother receives good education, she was on the other hand wholly domesticated hence denied to learn about science and other subjects. Similar to many other radical voices, Judith support for gender equality was strongly resisted. The early society remained a place for male privileges. In the course of her writing years, Judith was involved in debates that led to significant social changes with the major change being the society putting more emphasis on women education. The understanding of the desired relationships between women and men underwent remarkable changes. This helped in shaping the new place for wives who are now required to instruct their children to be reasonable and intelligent individuals. In addition, the literacy gap between men and women minimized due to expansion of education facilities with capacity to accommodate more women. Further, the traditional aspect of wives responsibilities led to new commitment of female education that significantly made husbands and wives more equal within a family. As a re-known writer, Judith focused on women issues. Even though her ideas were seen as radical during those early days, they indeed helped to push reforms in regard to women education, equal treatment and progress in the society (Galewski 38). She was a true pioneer of feminism, writing and speaking and advocating for women’s rights when not many people could. She spent most of her life fighting for educational equality for women and nor herself alone. Her essay “On the Equality of the Sexes” was very critical and indeed paved the way for feminist movement. In writing this paper, the major problem faced include depicting Judith Sargent Mullay’s as the sole effort in the fight for women’s place in the society whereas there were other major participants who contributed significantly to this cause. In this respect, I have tried to use her works to indicate how ancient women advocated for gender equality. Further, I have extensively borrowed from previous authors through paraphrasing to make my work original. Nevertheless, after being moved by the story of Murray, I agree that wherever there is sheer determination, the goals being pursued are eventually achieved; a fact that is evident by the place of women in our modern society. However, with more time, I could consider the work of other women and men who strongly advocated for women’s rights and how their efforts have overtime contributed to place of women in our modern society. Works Cited Galewski, Elizabeth. The Strange Case for Women’s Capacity to Reason: Judith Sargent Murray’s Use of Irony in On the Equality of the Sexes (1790).  Quarterly Journal of Speech 93.1 (2007): 84-108.  Web. 19 Nov 2012. Mays, Dorothy. Women in early America: struggle, survival, and freedom in a new world. Calif: ABC-CLIO. 2004. Ebook Murray, Judith Sargent.  On the Equality of the Sexes.  University of Maryland Early Americas Digital Archive. Massachusetts Magazine (1790): 132-35, 223-26. Web. 1 Oct 2012. Murray, Judith Sergent. Harris, Sharon M. In: Women writers in English 1350-1850. New York: Oxford University Press.1995.ebook Siniopoli, Richard. Readings in American political and social thought. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 1997. Ebook Smith, Bonnie Hurd. Judith Sargent Murray. Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography.  Unitarian Universalist Association, n.d.  Web. 19 Nov 2012. Read More