Mary Astell

Founded early feminist philosophy through radical Enlightenment-era arguments for women's education and autonomy

Mary Astell (1666-1731), the 'First English Feminist', challenged patriarchal norms through seminal works like A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (1694). Her philosophical arguments predated Wollstonecraft by a century, advocating:

• Establishment of women's academic institutions
• Critique of coercive marriage practices
• Cartesian-inspired theories of rational equality

Astell's proto-feminist epistemology combined religious devotion with Descartes' mind-body dualism. Her 1700 work Some Reflections Upon Marriage famously asked: If all Men are born free, how is it that all Women are born slaves? This radical critique of gendered power structures influenced later suffrage movements while maintaining conservative theological foundations.