Education is the key to achieving success and paves the way to success. In the "Author's Introduction" of her 1792 treatise, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft claims that women's education has been "neglected" and the education they receive is "a false system of education" centered on trivial matters. Because women have not been afforded educational opportunities like men, she laments that women are seen as inferior and as “a frivolous sex” who can only rise in the world through marriage (Wollstonecraft). Women and men should be treated equally and have equal opportunities: one's ability, not sex, must be the deciding force in all aspects of life. Wollstonecraft lived during the Enlightenment (ca. 1650 – 1800) when there was a demand for greater sociability and political equality (Fiero 293). In 1789, middle- and lower-class French citizens revolted because of the disorder and inequality in their system. After the Revolution, the new governmental Assembly adopted a constitution preceded by a Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (303). In response, Olympe de Gourges drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens, calling for women to be afforded the same rights as men. This was the first time in history that women demanded equal property rights, government employment, and equal educational opportunities (303). Wollstonecraft's treatise was a response to the new French Constitution, which excluded women from all areas of public life; the report on education presented by M. Talleyrand-Périgord to the French National Assembly, in which he recommended that girls' education be directed towards more submissive activities (Wollstonecraft); and a condemnation of the philosopher, J...... middle of paper ......ersity Libraries. Duke University Libraries. November 10, 2011. .Kingsbury, Alex. “Many universities reject women at higher rates than men.” US News & World Report. US News & World Report, June 17, 2007. November 10, 2011. United States of America. United States Department of Commerce. United States Census Bureau. The big profit: education level and summary estimates of earnings in work and private life. United States Department of Commerce. November 11, 2011. .Wollstonecraft, Maria. "Author's Introduction." Introduction. A vindication of women's rights. Feminism and women's studies. Eserver. October 19th, 2011. .