A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Appearances Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Civilized women are, therefore, so weakened by false refinement, that, respecting morals, their condition is much below what it would be were they left in a state nearer to nature. (4.26)

Women might actually be more moral if they were totally left alone by society and not educated at all. Traditional female education, though, focuses so much on appearances and superficial things that in Wollstonecraft's mind, it actually makes women worse as people.

Quote #5

I am fully persuaded that we should hear of none of these infantine airs, if girls were allowed to take sufficient exercise, and not confined in close rooms till their muscles are relaxed, and their powers of digestion destroyed. (4.34)

Wollstonecraft insists that one of the main reasons women's minds are corrupted is because their bodies are never given a chance to develop properly. From a young age, ladies are kept away from physical sports and taught not to exercise their muscles. Wollstonecraft insists that this lack of exercise and nutrition ends up giving women weak minds.

Quote #6

But, I will venture to assert that their reason will never acquire sufficient strength to enable it to regulate their conduct, whilst the making an appearance in the world is the first wish of the majority of mankind. (4.77)

Women will never learn how to properly use their minds if the world won't stop valuing their appearance over everything else. You can still see this kind of tension today in the way that advertisements and fashion spreads still have an insane control over women's self-image.