Rachael MacLean Feminists During the French Revolution The French Revolution and the Enlightenment principles it espoused

are often lauded by casual observers for promoting greater social equality. The toppling of the monarchy, a new sense of nationalism, and new government responsibilities for the welfare of the people all served to reduce the systematic inequality inherent in the ancien regime (pre-revolutionary France). However, a deeper consideration of Enlightenment principles reveals that this equality was limited. The universality of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was in fact only universal to white, property-holding men. Women, especially, were expected to maintain their roles as second class citizens. Regressive gender roles were enshrined as natural pillars of a civilized society. Revolutionary French feminists struggled to find a way to argue against inequality without seeming to challenge the idea of a natural order, and were often condemned as subversive, unnatural, and barbaric. The physical characteristics of the human body were immensely important to enlightenment thinkers. The enlightenment had a preoccupation with nature and natural rights. Thus, human bodies were viewed as the best way to understand what nature intended concerning gender roles and social structures. However, true scientific studies were limited, and often speculation was mistaken for scientific fact.i One prevailing idea was that sexual differences were based on the location of sex organs. Men, who had external testes, were able to distance themselves from their sex and think rationally. Women, on the other hand, had internal ovaries and an internal uterus. This internalization of their femaleness was seen as a debilitating factor in rational thought since objectivity depended on the ability to distance oneself from ones own perspective. Men were thus seen as more rational than women and fitter to represent the interests of the nation as they would not allow their sex to inhibit their judgment in any way.ii

The hypocrisy of Enlightenment thinking put feminists in a difficult position. Surrounded by ideas of social equality, freedom, and civic participation, women wanted to take an active role in the French Revolution. However, female activity was condemned by the same sanctification of nature that led to the theory of natural rights and equality.iii How, then, could French feminists challenge the idea of natural gender roles without challenging the whole structure of natural rights and appearing subversive to the revolution? One way was arguing for equality of the sexes without challenging the nature of the sexes. French feminists employed examples of politics involving motherhood and even argued that feminine gentleness and purity would help put an end to war by tempering male aggression. Olympe de Gouges employed one specific example in her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen that argued women needed freedom of speech and the press so that they could make sure fathers [would] recognize their children.iv The problem with this line of reasoning, though, was that it lacked the universality so invoked in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and demoted women to a special interest group, unworthy of constant consideration or widespread civic involvement. Another way women vied for equal rights was by directly challenging the nature of women, showing that certain facets of female behavior were socially constructed. Olympe de Gouges argued that the manipulative and perversely sexual quality of women was not inherent, but brought on by their desire for power which they could only accomplish through men. She argued that if women had recognized political rights they would not have to resort to such means to gain power and could prove themselves rational.v By trying to refute patriarchal stereotypes of women in such a way, feminists were forced to acknowledge these stereotypes, which weakened the argument of female equality from the outset, proving even this line of reasoning problematic.vi

Enlightenment thinking and its obsession with natural order made it nearly impossible for women to argue for equal rights without seeming to threaten nature. Systematically confined to the home, women were first separated from the public sphere and politics. Then, if they managed to enter an active role they were condemned as unnatural and even subversive to the state. It is apparent that even at a time of rapidly growing equality, people were far from truly equal.

Scott, Joan W. "French Feminists and the Rights of "Man"" The French Revolution: The Essential Readings. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. 213-214. Print. ii Scott. French Feminists and the Rights of Man 216 -217 iii Scott. French Feminists and the Rights of Man 220-221 iv Scott. French Feminists and the Rights of Man 225-226 v Scott. French Feminists and the Rights of Man 226 vi Scott. French Feminists and the Rights of Man 227