Mary Wollstonecraft’s Argument for Equality
by Max Ronquillo and Michael Greenwald
Mary Wollstonecraft’s application of feminism is uniquely compelling; a society’s health depends greatly on the welfare of all of its citizens, and inequality is an obstruction to a fully-functioning society. In short, if people are suffering, society falters. If half of our society is oppressed, then our entire SOCIETY will be underdeveloped. Discriminatory attitudes (and legislature) negatively impact institutions such as infrastructure and the economy that ALL citizens use. Discrimination doesn’t discriminate!
It is in the best interest of people and the state [1], to guarantee equal treatment and opportunity. Protecting opportunities that contribute to society in political, economical, and societal ways, would allow the state to feel the full strength of its people. Past and present states have enacted and permitted barriers that take away opportunities from parts of a population to grant privileges to others, and the only path to societal equality and a properly functioning Democratic state is to tear down these walls of oppression.
The most fundamental part of any properly functioning Democracy is voting. Voting is how individuals are able to hold their state accountable. As U.S. citizens, we have opportunities every two to six years to make the state reflective of our needs and attitudes to (in theory) hold our leaders accountable when they no longer are serving our best interest. The primary objective of first wave feminists was securing women’s right to vote, because as Wollstonecraft slyly points out, “I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government.” Voting is the backbone of a properly functioning Democratic society, and is the most important human right to defend. This sacred right is being attacked by conservative elites all over the US, and perhaps nowhere worse than in Georgia. Absurd, pointed restrictions on requesting absentee ballots, drop box locations, and giving water to voters standing in poll lines are all part of SB 202, ironically named “Election Integrity Act of 2021.” Does the bill directly say “black people can’t vote?” No, it does not. But what it does do is make voting harder for EVERYONE in Georgia. It gives people more fine print to read before casting a ballot. It makes requesting an absentee ballot more complicated than applying for a passport. If everyone was able to pursue their civic duty actively and righteously, our government would be more representative of its citizens and would more effectively be able to carry out the will of the people.
Equal occupational opportunity is essential to a healthy economy. Keynes says if people have a good job with good income, their propensity to consume will drive them to spend and participate in strengthening the economy by circulating wealth. In many states, being incarcerated means not being able to vote, not being able to work certain jobs, and all in all not being able to contribute to society or reap its rewards. Voting restrictions make people feel more disconnected from their government and more reluctant to educate themselves on all of the wonderful state and federal safety nets designed to help individuals and strengthen communities. Denying an oppressed minority the opportunity to work means high unemployment, weak wealth circulation, and a failing economy. Systematically incarcerating African Americans has been a frighteningly effective strategy to stagnate their income, but as we can see it also grinds our economy to a standstill. When we do not have equal participation in a society, all of society suffers.
We want to highlight how targeting discriminatory bureaucratic bullshit affects another underserved population: for the transgender community, it is even harder to receive ANY opportunity. For full details, I highly implore you, dear reader, to check out Samuel Mann’s The Labour Force Status of Transgender People and The Impact of Removing Surgical Requirements to Change Gender on ID Documents. Mann lays out “the detrimental economic impact of surgical requirements for transgender people to be able to reassign gender on birth certificates, especially for those individuals that are least likely to be able to afford surgical treatment.” Basically, some state laws require transgender workers to surgically match their genitalia to their gender identity in order to confirm their gender on official state documents, which is necessary to re-enter the workforce. If you present as a gender that you weren’t assigned at birth, and you are choosing not to get surgery or you can’t afford it, then you can be denied employment. Obviously this is really shitty for transgender people everywhere, and individuals really suffer because of stupid laws like this. But the bigger takeaway is how denying minorities equal economic opportunity hurts everyone: this raises unemployment! Do CONSERVATIVE ELITES seriously care more about your sex organs than having a good economy? Samuel Mann can confirm.
The evidence speaks for itself. On March 29th 2021, the Arkansas passed a ban on gender-affirming healthcare treatments for transgender youth. Arkansas’s ranks (dis)respectively 40th in Health care access, 50th (!!) in quality, and 48th in public health. These aren’t ranks specifically for transgender patients; these are healthcare quality ranks for EVERYONE living in the state. Mary W would say providing equal access to healthcare for all is a societal right and an essential step on the path to advancing the quality of life for all of society. We ALL benefit from having a healthcare system that has the capability to work for everyone, no matter how unique their healthcare needs are. Creating a healthcare system with the flexibility to accommodate everyone will make it work better for YOU (DUH!!).
This blatant attack on transgender people by Arkansas conservatives is only serving as a distraction from their failure to provide fair and easy access to healthcare for all. Healthcare is a basic right, my dear reader. Nobody should be denied essential medical services because of where they live or the body they are born into. They are a contrarian party: the only reason they are against providing universal access to healthcare is because their opposition advocates for it. They are doubling down on restricting healthcare access because they have calculated it is politically beneficial to do so. This is not how ANYONE should govern: people in power have an obligation to defend and protect the basic rights of ALL of its citizens, and for the millionth time, DISCRIMINATING AGAINST SOME HARMS EVERYONE. They are scapegoating their entire flock, and we can only hope that a majority will make a stand and vote them out. The scary thing is that time is now: the majority of Americans understand this, but the Republican Party has hijacked our voting system to the point that they no longer need the support of the majority of the people to hold onto power. This is why protecting the right to vote is the most essential part of a Democracy, and we are living proof.
Education reform is the first step to normalizing and guaranteeing consistent fair treatment in society. It’s easy to implement and the effects are immediate. Mandating all-inclusive sex education would destigmatize non-binary people and arm youth with the knowledge needed to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and the financial and emotional costs associated with them. [2]
Cultural institutions that expand opportunities for equality tend to be better too. Desegregation in sports has only made them more competitive and exciting. What would Baseball be without Jackie Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr? Basketball without Michael and Lebron? How would WWII be different without women entering the workforce? Barack Obama’s multi-ethnic Democratic coalition took steps toward universal health care and expanded marriage equality. The big takeaway from all of this is EQUAL RIGHTS = EQUAL OPPORTUNITY = IMPROVED SOCIETY. Our periods of advancement in our history come when we uplift EVERYONE.
While America needs to take steps toward achieving equality, it’s not all doom and gloom in the rest of the world! Iceland is an awesome example of how equality leads to greater societal benefits. By many metrics, Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world. The Icelandic government is built on a proportionally representative model, meaning that people of all demographics and backgrounds are properly reflected in their government; as a result, forty percent of its legislature are women. When comparing the US and Iceland’s labor participation rate (LPR) of both men and women, Iceland leads both groups by more than 10% each (Iceland Men 80%, Iceland Women 70%, US Men 70% and US Women 57%). While the rates for both men and women have stabilized in Iceland, the US saw both rates fall PLUS the LPR for women has now reached a 33 year LOW. According to Wollstonecraft, the US workforce has a low participation rate because they are denied opportunity, while equality has strengthened Iceland’s participation rate.
Over a century later, Mary Wollstonecraft’s message proves timeless. We are shooting ourselves in the foot if we think that oppressing a certain group would make life better for others. Dear reader, we sincerely hope understanding these macro arguments makes you just as excited as us to fight for equality!
Footnotes:
1. This assumes the STATE’s function is to serve and empower ALL of its citizens. Unfortunately, not all states function in this way. The ideal state, the vision of how a state SHOULD be functioning to best uphold its end of the social contract, is an important carrot for us to chase.
2. The consequences of a lack of education showed that in 2019 the United States had 750,000 teenage pregnancies, half of the 20 million new cases of STDs will be diagnosed in individuals aged 15 to 24, and the U.S. ranks first among developed nations in rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and STIs/STDs. Only 8 states have all-inclusive sex education. We can do better.
