Mary Wollstonecraft is widely considered as the founder (or at least one of the founders) of feminism. She wrote the groundbreaking book “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” in which she challenged the notion that women exist for the sole purpose of ‘pleasing men’. That same philosophy is still the main driving force of feminism and women’s rights movements, almost 300 years later.
Sadly, Wollstonecraft passed in 1797, just days after she gave birth to her baby girl, but still managed to write one last piece of advice for her – and it’s something that every girl should hear:
“Death may snatch me from you, before you can weigh my advice, or enter into my reasoning: I would then, with fond anxiety, lead you very early in life to form your grand principle of action, to save you from the vain regret of having, through irresolution, let the spring-tide of existence pass away, unimproved, unenjoyed. — Gain experience — ah! gain it — while experience is worth having, and acquire sufficient fortitude to pursue your own happiness; it includes your utility, by a direct path. What is wisdom too often, but the owl of the goddess, who sits moping in a desolated heart.”
The Marginalian reports that Wollstonecraft knew that the end is near, so she wrote her bittersweet message.
Although the passage doesn’t seem as radical now, it’s fascinating how she encouraged her daughter to self-mastery in a time when women’s fate was entirely decided by men.
She knew the value and importance of empowering women, and she wanted her daughter to know that and fight for it.
Wollstonecraft’s daughter, Mary Shelley, grew up to be a strong, independent woman that continued her mom’s feminist principles. She wrote ‘Frankenstein’, the world’s first science fiction novel, and possibly another feminist novel.
Some scholars believe that Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is important for the feminist movement due to her critique on the male-dominant society.
And just like her mother wanted, Shelley rebelled against convention, pursued her own path, and paved the way for the world we live in today.
Source: Upworthy
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