Olympe de Gouge was a French revolutionary writer in the 18th century. Gouge was well educated and relocated to Paris after the death of her husband with the hopes of becoming a playwright and political pamphleteer (Frankforter, 491). Although she also wrote about the abolition of slavery, she is most famous for her document Declaration of the rights of Women (Frankforter, 491). It was her persistence to influence revolutionary change for woman’s rights that resulted in her execution by the guillotine.
The Declaration of the rights of Women was created by Gouge with the intention of being a public document for the government, in particular; the National Assembly, and the people of France. Her intention was to embolden women to allege their …show more content…
Louis XVI called together the National Assembly, the three estates, to discuss reforms (The French Revolution, Bo Riley). However, there were no women present at the meeting. The roles of women were limited and they were not permitted to participate in governmental affairs. This had a major impact on many women revolutionist who wanted equal rights before the law. Gouge encourages women to “wake up” and “discover their rights” (Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). She refers to reformation when she states, “The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies” (Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). Gouge insists that women free themselves from the chains men bound to them, because the reformation is the time for such acts, but only if they put in the effort instead of being blind to the system of inequality and …show more content…
The third estate was finally granted a say in the decisions that were made in France, why would they adjust their power to fit the needs of people they saw as incapable? Not to mention that the first and second estate already saw themselves as superior to others. Gouge was asking for more than just equality. She was asking for property share, a general will, freedom of speech as long as it did not disturb public order, women to be able to assert that a child is a man’s without being punished, security, resistance to oppression, separation of powers, and an equal share of public administration and in the determination of taxes (The Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). These were all rights that men simply would not want to give up. Why would they want to share their property with women and provide them with that power? Why would they want to permit women with freedom of speech when they can retaliate against them? I believe men felt as though they were too superior to women, that women were uneducated and incapable, and therefore should not sustain the same rights as them when there are clearly more laudable. The people of France bombarded the Bastille for protection from the king’s army the same year the Declaration of the Rights of Women was published (The French Revolution, Bo Riley). Most women probably felt as though their problems and needs were inferior to men. If they had not,
The Declaration of the rights of Women was created by Gouge with the intention of being a public document for the government, in particular; the National Assembly, and the people of France. Her intention was to embolden women to allege their …show more content…
Louis XVI called together the National Assembly, the three estates, to discuss reforms (The French Revolution, Bo Riley). However, there were no women present at the meeting. The roles of women were limited and they were not permitted to participate in governmental affairs. This had a major impact on many women revolutionist who wanted equal rights before the law. Gouge encourages women to “wake up” and “discover their rights” (Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). She refers to reformation when she states, “The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies” (Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). Gouge insists that women free themselves from the chains men bound to them, because the reformation is the time for such acts, but only if they put in the effort instead of being blind to the system of inequality and …show more content…
The third estate was finally granted a say in the decisions that were made in France, why would they adjust their power to fit the needs of people they saw as incapable? Not to mention that the first and second estate already saw themselves as superior to others. Gouge was asking for more than just equality. She was asking for property share, a general will, freedom of speech as long as it did not disturb public order, women to be able to assert that a child is a man’s without being punished, security, resistance to oppression, separation of powers, and an equal share of public administration and in the determination of taxes (The Declaration of the Rights of Women, Gouge). These were all rights that men simply would not want to give up. Why would they want to share their property with women and provide them with that power? Why would they want to permit women with freedom of speech when they can retaliate against them? I believe men felt as though they were too superior to women, that women were uneducated and incapable, and therefore should not sustain the same rights as them when there are clearly more laudable. The people of France bombarded the Bastille for protection from the king’s army the same year the Declaration of the Rights of Women was published (The French Revolution, Bo Riley). Most women probably felt as though their problems and needs were inferior to men. If they had not,