"The neglected education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore."-Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Rousseau and Wollstonecraft believed that children should be allowed to grow freely and learn to use their education practically. Children would then grow up to be free thinking adults that would keep soceity from becoming materialistic and oppressing. Nonetheless, they vehemently disagreed on who should receive such an education. Rousseau thought that only males, because they are stronger should receive such and education. Wollstonecraft believed everyone, no matter what sex, should be able to be educated to reform and better society as a whole. Though both their works were considered extreme, they are both apparent in the public education system of today.

             Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) and Rousseau (1712-1778) both agreed that society oppressed human kind, but Wollstonecraft felt that men were oppressing women. They both believed that education should mean letting children grow freely and placing little restrictions. They should protect them from immediate dangers and provide food and shelter. They should not, however, force books and controlled learning upon the children. He thought that children should also develop common sense and each child would choose whatever interests him to study in greater detail. He thought that this method of education would produce a well balanced, free thinking child. Therefore this would lead to a natural society rather than a materialistic one.

             Rousseau"s theory of natural education was not intended for all children. He felt that girls should be limited motherhood, and how to be a wife. To Rousseau, women exist in order to serve man, because they are weaker. Wollstonecraft stated that women should be taught medicine in order to take care of parents, infants, and husbands properly. She endorsed equal education for all children no matter what the sex.