Tosafos writes that chazal were not mesaken that women should be chayav miderabonon in time bound positive mitzvos (Tosafos proves that women are expempt from time bound rabbinic mitzvos so chazal were certainly not mechayev them midrabonon in d'oraysa time bound mitzvos). It was not necessary to be mechayev women miderabonon in time bound positive mitzvos, because they can express they "jewishness" by keeping many other mitzvos that they do have. But, blind people according to R' Yehuda who are expempt from mitzvos m'doraysa would be exempt from all mitzvos, therefore, Chazal were mechayev them in mitzvos m'drabonon so that they should not be like goyim.
There is a machlokes between the Noda b'yehuda and Pri megadim (i can't recall the ma'areh makom right now) whether this exemption for blind people according to R' Yehuda is only from positive mitzvos or whether they are exempt from even negative commandments (like a cheiresh and shoteh who are exempt from all mitzvos). According to the opinion that they are exempt from only positive mitzvos but are chayev d'oraysa in negative mitzvos, tosafos is saying a fascinating chiddush. Even though they would be chayev in negative mitzvos, chazal were still concerned that they would be like goyim since they would not be actively performing mitzvos aseh. What makes us different from "them" in the public eye is not what we don't do but rather what we DO!
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