Women During the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Works cited

Introduction

Before the French revolution, the country experienced a lot of economic pressures that eventually led to the revolution. We suffered from the adverse effects of the famine and most people suffered from malnutrition. This increased the death rates due to the starvation and also the occurrence of many diseases. During this time, the country was headed by King Louis XV who was involved in fighting many wars. This led the country to the verge of bankruptcy (Hufton, p22). King Louis XV supported the colonists during the American Revolution and this made the country to spend a lot of finances on the war. The national dept amounted to almost 2 billion Livres.

Main body

The King tried to solve the financial crises in the country by reforming the tax system but this turned out to be very unsuccessful. He then called for a meeting of three states representing all the classes in France. This included the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Commoners. Each state had one vote and in experience the nobility and the clergy joined together to ensure defeat of any reforms proposals from the commoners. As the commoners we became very determined to ensure that this challenge was not going to pass in the next general assembly. We pushed for the votes of each representative to be counted separately and there rose disagreements on the voting method. This resulted in the first oppressive regime when the third class which comprised of the majority and the only class paying tax declared itself sovereign.We therefore broke away from the Estates General and formed the National Assembly on June 17, 1789.The revolutionary assembly attracted a lot of attention from the other assemblies who decided to join the third class to oppose the existing governing constitution. Upon defeat, King Louis XV ordered the nobles to join the National Assembly that would remain in session till September 1791. This led to the end of the Estates General (Lewis).

Civil disobedience became the order of the day and nothing would stop the people from overthrowing the monarchy. The continued disobedience later gave way to the revolutionary regime and several changes came to effect. During the revolution women were very important contributors to the popular movement. The peasant women and the working class women remained politically active during the times of crises. We were responsible of putting bread to the table but during the famine periods, we traditionally marched to the civil center to beseech the local government to solve the misery. During the revolution, the marching demonstrations changed course and instead of marching to the civic center to petition the local magistrates, we marched first to the royal palace and sent our petitions directly to the King and then later marched to the national legislature (Hufton, p28).

In mid July Louis tried to repress the National assembly by allowing his troops to shoot people in the streets. This led to crowds storming the Paris streets in search of arms to defend the National Assembly. We stormed the Bastille, a fortress that we believed contained arms and also the political prisoners. King Louis became very unsuccessful in over throwing the assembly. The religious leaders, municipalities, provinces and also towns supported the National Assembly and by the end of July, the Assembly declared the Declaration of the rights of a man.

As the political crises deepened, the economy was further in crises and the price of bread rose very high in Paris and also in the country side. As women, we held the duty of holding demonstrations whenever there was a food crisis. We found it very necessary to have the King and the government closer to the people so that the people would have an eye on their activities. As a group of women, we marched to the royal palace of Versailles in Paris on October 5, 1789, to return the King and his family to the city of Paris (Lewis).

After the scene, there was some political calmness and it was very clear that revolution was in process. The revolution became very orderly and people held organized parades to petition the parliament. There were also different publications such as newspapers that debated on the issues that occurred each day. For two years from 1789 to 1791, the National Assembly concentrated on the formation of a new constitution. The constitution worked to eliminate the nobility as a legally defined class and made the Catholic Church an agency of the state. The Assembly gave the church the responsibility to pay off the monarchy debt and extended full citizenship to the Jews and other minorities (Hufton, p33).

As the revolutionary process continued, the women saw the ideals of the revolution as promising to improve their situation. Being a self educated woman, I had some knowledge in writing and I was determined to fight for the women rights. I wrote various pamphlets and plays on a variety of issues such as slavery. In these pamphlets, I declared the rights of women to parallel the one for men and posed women as a forgotten gender. I addressed these pamphlets to the Queen, Marie Antoinette and warned her that she must work for the revolution or risk destroying the monarchy all together. We formed many women clubs which we met together and discussed how we would become citizens of a great nation rather than be the subjects of the king (Gouges, p16). We fought for equal rights within marriage such as the right to divorce, extended rights of windows over property and of windowed mothers over their minor children.

We also wanted equal opportunities in education including the vocational training for poor girls, public training, licensing and support of all midwives in all provinces, guaranteed rights to employment and the execution of men from specific traditionally female professions such as dress making. As a move to fight for the women rights, I wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the citizens in 1791. This came to be the best known tract on the rights of women from that period as a response to the declaration to the rights of man and its silence regarding women. I wrote this declaration because I felt that the constitution that was supposed to promote equal rights did not consider the women. In my opinion, I was creating a part of the constitution that was missing (Landes, p20).

I argued that men were not superior to women since both genders are human and have the same thoughts. The superiority of women in beauty as well as courage in child birth was a logical proof that men were not superior and therefore deserved the same rights. In many of my transcripts, I denounced the customary treatment of women as objects that are easily abandoned. From the onset of the revolution the women aired their grievances to establish a new political and social order. I also joined the Cercle Social club which was an association with the goal of attaining equal political and legal rights for women. I was very adamant in urging the government to recognize the rights of women since this would eradicate women oppression as a way to social justice (Gouges, p9).

Through out my life, I urged women to wake up and realize that they had rights and demand for them. In the social contract between men and women, I insisted on the communal cooperation. In this case I indicated that wealth between a husband and wife should be distributed equally. The property gained in a marriage union should belong to the two of them and also the children. This is what I referred to as the marriage contract. In this contract, I explained the consequences of a woman who is left by unfaithful husband and also the fate of young girls who are seduced by the older men and leave them with children and without resources to raise them. I therefore took the initiative to urge the government to find a law that will enforce the inconsistent men to hold to their obligation to these women. In this document, I also addressed the men who perceive women as lesser beings. I challenged men to test the consequences of joining with the woman in equal politics. This declaration played a very significant role in the struggle for fighting for the women rights (Landes, p23).

The year 1793 saw the period of violence which was resulting from the conflict from the political rivals the Girondins and the Jacobins. This violence marked the execution of many enemies of the revolution. This period was referred to as the Reign of Terror. I did not support the act of mass executions which was at its height. I became actively involved in matters that I considered unjust. I specifically opposed the execution of the King because I preferred him to be allowed to seek exile. This has earned me the suffering under the Jacobeans for attacking the Maximilien Robespierre and also been a close Allie of the Girondists (Hufton, p43).

Conclusion

I celebrate my life as being able to speak not only for myself but also for many women in France. I managed to bring out the capability of a woman in making decisions. Even though a woman is not exactly same as a man she should be held as an equal partner. I faced very many challenges in the struggle of women rights since I assumed that I had a right of speech and therefore I violated very many boundaries that the revolutionary leaders wanted to preserve. Gaining women rights also meant that women would now reveal who the fathers of their children were a right which they did not have. I also insisted that the children out of wedlock be given equal rights as those born in the legitimate marriage. Many of the women in the revolutionary period have greatly suffered for their role in fighting for equal rights. We are punished for forgetting our traditional role and place in the society (Lewis).

Works cited

Hufton. Women and the limits of citizenship in the French Revolution: Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1992, p21-52.

Joan B.Landes. Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French. Cornell University Press, 1988, p10-28.

Jone Johnson Lewis. Olympe de Gouges and the Rights of Woman. 2001.Web.

Olympe de Gouges. The rights of woman. Pythia, 1989, p8-18.

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Women During the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges

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