Headline, July12, 2013

'''MARY WOLLSTONEC​RAFT :

 WHAT AN HONOUR'''

''Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she will grow more perfect when emancipated, or justify the authority that chains such a weak being to her Duty  -.

If the latter, it will be expedient to open a fresh trade with Russia for whips; a present which a father should always make to his son-in-law on his wedding day, that a husband may keep his whole family in order by the same means, and without any violation of justice reign, wielding his sceptre, sole master of his house, because he is the only being in it who has reason.'' 

That's Mary Wollstonecraft at her fearless and brilliant best. This British feminist and activist had just no equal. In her two books on rights of men and women, Wollstonecraft's anger is not aimed only at inequities suffered by women; it is directed also at the treatment of other deprived groups of people, for example the slaves in the United States and elsewhere.

And yet her classic writings are, ultimately, based on a strong appeal to reason. Angry rhetoric is consistently followed by reasoned arguments that Wollstonecraft wanted her many many opponents to consider. In her letter to M.Talleyrand Perigord, to whom her book, ''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'' is addressed, Wollstonecraft concluded by reaffirming her strong confidence in relying on reason:

''I wish, Sir, to set some investigations of this kind afloat in France; and should they lead to a confirmation of my principles, when your French constitution is revised the Rights of Women may be respected, if it be fully proved that reason calls for respect, and loudly demands JUSTICE foe one half of the human race.''

Resistance to injustice typically draws on both indignation and argument. Frustration and ire can help motivate us, and yet ultimately we have to rely, for both assessment and effectiveness, on reasoned scrutiny to obtain a plausible and sustainable understanding of the basis of those complaints and what can be done to address the underlying problem.

The dual function of indignation and reasoning are well illustrated by the attempts of Mary Wollstonecraft for pioneering feminist thinker, to achieve a ''vindication of the rights of woman. There is a plentiful expression of anger and exasperation in Wollstonecraft's discussion for the need for a radical rejection of the subjugation of women.

The role and reach of reason are not undermined by the indignation that leads to an investigation of the ideas underlying the nature and basis of the persistent inequities which characterized the world in which Mary Wollstonecraft lived the eighteenth century, as they do also in the world in which we live today.

Open-minded engagement in public reasoning is just so quiet central to the pursuit of Justice.

With respectful dedication and to the loving honor and memory of  lawyer Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the State of Pakistan.

With respectful dedication to Justice and the Great thinkers of the time.

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless