Mary Wollstonecraft was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationships at the time, received more attention than her writing. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences.
Wollstonecraft c. 1797
Wollstonecraft in 1790–91, by John Opie
Frontispiece to the 1791 edition of Original Stories from Real Life engraved by William Blake
10 August attack on the Tuileries Palace; French revolutionary violence spreads
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others, they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys.
Women's rights
Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst campaigning for women's suffrage
Ancient Sumerian bas-relief portrait depicting the poet Enheduanna
Statue of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art