A woman's struggle for a language of enlightenment and virtue: Mary Wollstonecraft and Enlightenment 'feminism'

Feminists and feminist scholars have often been overly dutiful daughters. Despite our critical stance, and attempts to create own thoughts and theories, feminist scholars have sometimes gone too far in accepting the defi­ nitions and views of dominant theoretical traditions as they have been shaped and applied in clearly male-dominated and non-feminist communi­ ties. This influence has sometimes warped our interpretations of our own intellectual history. This is certainly true with respect to dominant views of 'Enlightenment feminism' in feminist scholarship.