Women’s Roles in Society

I. Introduction

II. Occupations of Working Class Women

A. Decline of Women’s Domestic Production

B. Increasing Demand for Servants

III. Restrictions for Middle Class Women

A. Loss of Occupational Opportunities

B. Limited New Options: Governess Example

IV. Changes in Motherhood: Source of Power?

A. New Views of Education and Childhood

B. Jean Jacque Rousseau’s Émile

V. Arguments for Women’s Rights

A. Earliest Calls: Economic Rights

- Mary Astell, Woman’s Superior Excellence Over Man (1740)

B. Life and Work of Mary Wollstonecraft

1. Early Education and Economic Independence

2. Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

3. Journey to France (December 1792)

4. Final Work: The Wrongs of Women, or Maria (1797)

VI. Conclusion: Accessing the Options

Key Terms

Theodosia Crowley

brewing, cheese-making, midwifery

domestic service

Jean Jacque Rousseau, Émile

wet-nursing

governess

Mary Astell

Mary Wollstonecraft

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787)

Vindication of the Rights of Woman

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