Gouges’ declaration asserted that a lack and neglect for the rights of woman was the sole cause of public misfortune. Directed at Queen Marie Antoinette amidst political scrutiny to implore reformations on the equality of rights of men and women, it also expounds to Gouges’ fellow ‘citizenesses’ that they possess natural rights that are unalienable, insuppressible and endowed by the Creator in both genders, evident in its Article (4) and (5) .
In this analysis, I argue that although Gouges’ declaration seems to harp on men being bullies and women as victims , such were merely her illustrations to validate existing inequalities at the time of its drafting. Ultimately, her declaration’s aim was to awaken the people from such existing inequalities, …show more content…
For such normative beliefs to fade away, she had to ensure that women stand upon an equal platform with men in recognition of their abilities. Since Gouges observed a widespread frustration based on collective actions by other women , she joined them as part of ‘Cercle Social’ amidst a Revolutionary Fever , eventually writing the declaration she believed would be impactful enough to trigger reformations top-down and across …show more content…
Besides inequality between gender in society obviously being her concern for instance in education , she was keen to reduce inequality between different classes observed even among women and the fact that some had more opportunities to receive education than commoners like her . Attempting to resolve both inequalities, Gouges inserted in her Article (13) that men and women should pay equal amount of taxes on top of it being proportional to one’s income. Also in her Article (13), Gouges’ assertion that women need to have the “same proportion in the distribution of places, employments, offices, dignities and in industry” as of men could be seen as promoting meritocracy by which if a woman worked as diligently as other men and women, she should deserve competing on an equal platform for positions amounting to her work done in comparison to others. A similar stance as of the previous declaration for Meritocracy was reiterated in her Article (6) by considering ability as key to individuals’ public standing, while adding ‘Citizeness’ alongside ‘Citizen’ to highlight that women are included in such a meritocratic system. These were aimed to promote higher social mobility for individuals including herself that is attainable by achievements beyond the boundaries of class and
In this analysis, I argue that although Gouges’ declaration seems to harp on men being bullies and women as victims , such were merely her illustrations to validate existing inequalities at the time of its drafting. Ultimately, her declaration’s aim was to awaken the people from such existing inequalities, …show more content…
For such normative beliefs to fade away, she had to ensure that women stand upon an equal platform with men in recognition of their abilities. Since Gouges observed a widespread frustration based on collective actions by other women , she joined them as part of ‘Cercle Social’ amidst a Revolutionary Fever , eventually writing the declaration she believed would be impactful enough to trigger reformations top-down and across …show more content…
Besides inequality between gender in society obviously being her concern for instance in education , she was keen to reduce inequality between different classes observed even among women and the fact that some had more opportunities to receive education than commoners like her . Attempting to resolve both inequalities, Gouges inserted in her Article (13) that men and women should pay equal amount of taxes on top of it being proportional to one’s income. Also in her Article (13), Gouges’ assertion that women need to have the “same proportion in the distribution of places, employments, offices, dignities and in industry” as of men could be seen as promoting meritocracy by which if a woman worked as diligently as other men and women, she should deserve competing on an equal platform for positions amounting to her work done in comparison to others. A similar stance as of the previous declaration for Meritocracy was reiterated in her Article (6) by considering ability as key to individuals’ public standing, while adding ‘Citizeness’ alongside ‘Citizen’ to highlight that women are included in such a meritocratic system. These were aimed to promote higher social mobility for individuals including herself that is attainable by achievements beyond the boundaries of class and