Olympe de Gouges: Rights of Woman

Olympe de Gouges and the Declaration of the Rights of Woman

• Olympe de Gouges was an early feminist and advocate for equal rights for women during the French Revolution.
• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) was inherently sexist.
• De Gouges wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, mirroring the original declaration.
• De Gouges patterned this work after the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
• She asserted that if men are demanding rights, women should do the same.
• De Gouges highlights that women undergo significant physical pain during childbirth for societal continuity.
• She adopted the language of the Enlightenment and deism by invoking a Supreme Being.

Analysis of Articles from the Declaration

• Article 1: Women are born free and remain equal to men in rights; social distinctions should be based on common utility.
• Article 3: National sovereignty resides in the union of both women and men.
• Article 4: The limits to a woman's natural rights are male tyranny, which should be reformed by laws of nature and reason.
• Article 6: Laws should be the expression of the general will, with all citizens, female and male, contributing to their formation.
• Article 10: Women have the right to express their opinions freely; if women can be punished like men, they should have the right to speak publicly.
• Article 11: Women should have the right to acknowledge their children without prejudice, advocating for legal recognition and support of children born out of wedlock.
• Article 12: Guarantees of women's rights should benefit all, not just a privileged few.
• Article 13: Women should have equal contributions, duties, and painful tasks to men, therefore they should have an equal share in positions, employment, offices, honors, and jobs.
• Article 16: A Constitution is invalid if the majority of the population, including women, have not cooperated in drafting it.
• Article 17: Property rights should be equal for both sexes, whether married or not.

Addendum and Social Commentary

• De Gouges urged women to recognize their rights and break free from prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies.
• She critiqued marriage as it existed in her time.
• Marriage was considered "the tomb of trust and love" due to unequal power dynamics and lack of legal protection for illegitimate children.
• She proposed a social contract for marriage based on mutual will and equal rights to property.
• She wanted a marriage which is not top down but bottom up, where a man and a woman are entering into a marriage as equals".
• She advocated for legal protections for deceived women and legally enforced child support.

Aftermath

• Olympe de Gouges was eventually beheaded during the Reign of Terror.
• Today, there is a place named after her in Paris.

Explore Olympe de Gouges' fight for women's rights during the French Revolution. Her Declaration of the Rights of Woman mirrored the original Rights of Man, advocating for equality. She highlighted women's contributions to society and invoked Enlightenment ideals.