It has always been harder to find reasons for women's education than for men's. It is worth while, therefore, to fix our attention on making them sensible, that they are esteemed for nothing else, but the appearance of a decent, and modest, and discreet behavior. Wollstonecraft felt that women should study so that they would not have to marry for money or be regarded merely as sex objects by men. Mawr College was founded by a group of men and women belonging to The Society of Friends who were convinced that intelligent women deserve an education as rigorous and stimulating as that offered to men. The difficulty with statements like these about the purpose of women's education is that they are all the wrong size.
Education is too big to squeeze into such a limited rationale.
What follows is that the purpose of education for women, as for men, is to enable them to lead free and full lives. Education should lead women, like men, into ever new human circumstances, all the while helping their emotions, their intellects, and their wills to keep step and pace. It must show them greatness against which they can measure the growth of their personal wisdom. Through education, Beauty may appear to all as simple and rich as fire. Education should bring men PAGE 6 and women enough sight of the past and the future, enough self-knowledge, for them to lead others.