How did Mary Wollstonecraft argue for equal education for women?

In her seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft argued that the educational system of her time was fundamentally flawed because it deliberately trained women to be frivolous, incapable, and mere "ornaments" in the lives of men. She contended that this inadequate schooling hindered women’s intellectual development and trapped them in limited societal roles, preventing them from exercising critical thinking or reason.12

Wollstonecraft, an Enlightenment thinker, believed that women and men were intellectually and spiritually equal. She advocated for a national educational system where girls and boys would be educated together, replacing a curriculum focused on "charm" and "refinement" with one centered on reason and critical inquiry. She argued that providing women with the same educational advantages as men would not only empower them to be better wives, mothers, and citizens but also enable them to enter various professions and achieve economic independence. Ultimately, she asserted that this reform was a moral necessity, as it would allow women to develop their own agency and contribute meaningfully to the improvement of all society.213