On the Equality of the Sexes

Judith Sargent Murray’s “On the Equality of the Sexes” is an argumentative essay, prefaced by an original poem. Murray builds her argument through logical and ethical appeals to the reader. The essay is written in the satirical style, popular in the late 1700s, reflected in its sardonically humorous tone and self-conscious authorial voice. Murray also employs rhetorical questioning throughout the essay in an attempt to leave readers questioning beliefs and values around the inequality of the sexes, real or imposed.

The essay itself begins with a series of rhetorical questions brimming with irony, wherein Murray asserts that the intellectual capacity of women is not inferior to that of men. Murray proceeds logically to address four different types of intellectual abilities: “imagination, reason, memory and judgment” (2). Employing logos, she evaluates women’s apparent abilities and deficits in each category. As necessary, she addresses any counterclaims she can see arising from her argument. Most notably, she concedes that women have some deficits in reason and judgment as a result of the limitations placed on their education by society.