Judith Murray

Judith Sargent Murray Judith Sargent Murray was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts on May 1st, 1751. She grew up to be an American advocate to women 's rights as well as a famous poet and writer. Judith lived in the time where women were not equal to men and did not have the same opportunities. Growing up, she watched her brother become well educated and she as well wanted to learn everything, but her parents refused to bring her up in the same way they did their son (Wikipedia). Women 's voices were not heard and Judith became very aware that society did not succumb to the ambitions of any lady. With time, Judith became one of the first Americans to pursue and fully justify that women and men were equal in the economic world and that would make her a world wide author though her piece called “On the Equality of the Sexes.” Since Judith 's parents did not allow her to the proper education that she wanted, she taught herself mostly everything she needed to know. “A student of history, Murray used examples of women 's accomplishments dating to ancient times to prove her points and to provide a leadership in what became a long struggle for women to fulfill potential and become fully empowered members of society” (Wikipedia). In 1784, Judith published her first essay, “Desultory Thoughts Upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self Complacency, especially in Female Bosoms” which was under an assumed name, Constantia (Smith, B). During this time period, women were not taken seriously and she decided that by going under a masculine name would help people read her work without the judgment of knowing it came from a woman. She wanted to be taken seriously even if she had to disguise herself. In 1790, Judith wrote the compelling 2 part essay, “On the Equality of the Sexes.” It represented her faith in the women and the fact that if they were given the proper education, any
Palguta 2 woman can have the same knowledgeable background as any man. Any woman can grow

Cited: Smith, Bonnie Hurd. “Judith Sargent Murray.” Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. Web. 1999- 2012. http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/judithsargentmurray.html. Staser, Karen. “Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820)” National Women 's History Museum. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/judith- sargent-murray. “Judith Sargent Murray.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Dec. 2011.Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Sargent_Murray#Selected_work.