- French:
- DĂ©claration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne
Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen
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What is the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the [Female] Citizen?
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, a pamphlet by Olympe de Gouges in 1791, France, asserts that women are equal to men in society and should have the same citizenship rights.
Modeled after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the [Male] Citizen, Gouges's work outlines rights for women, including liberty, property, security, and participation in lawmaking and government. Article 11 grants women the right to name the fathers of their children and pass along property to them, while Article 15 gives women the right to ask public officials about household finances, and Article 17 extends property rights to women regardless of marital status. A postscript urges women to recognize and remedy unequal treatment, including a proposed social contract for equal partnership in wealth.
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Who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and why?
Olympe de Gouges, a French social reformer and writer, penned the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the [Female] Citizen in 1791. This pamphlet, modeled after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the [Male] Citizen, argued that women are equal to men in society and should have the same citizenship rights.
De Gouges asserted that women, like men, possess natural, inalienable, and sacred rights. Her declaration outlined basic rights for women, including liberty, property, security, and the right to participate in lawmaking and government. She also advocated for the right of women to name the fathers of their children and for those children to inherit property. De Gouges urged women to recognize and remedy the unequal treatment they faced in society.
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When was this declaration written and what was happening in France at the time?
Olympe de Gouges published her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in France in 1791. This was during the French Revolution, a period of social and political upheaval that began in 1789 with the fall of the Bastille. Gouges' declaration asserted that women should have the same rights as men and advocated for their inclusion in France's National Assembly. In November 1793, Gouges was found guilty of treason and executed.
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What important rights did the declaration demand for women?
In her 1791 pamphlet, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the [Female] Citizen, Olympe de Gouges asserted that women should be equal to men in society and possess the same citizenship rights. Modeled after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the [Male] Citizen, Gouges' work demanded that women be included as part of Franceâs National Assembly and possess natural, inalienable, and sacred rights, just like their male counterparts.
These rights include the right to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression, and the right to participate fully in the creation of laws, at all levels of government, and voice opinions publicly. Furthermore, she controversially argued that women should have the right to publicly name the father of their children and pass along property to them, and that men should be held accountable for children born outside of marriage.
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How did this declaration compare to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?
Olympe de Gouges's 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen was modeled on the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. De Gouges's document asserted that women are equal to men in society and, as such, are entitled to the same citizenship rights.
Both declarations outline basic rights, such as liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression, and the right to participate in making laws. However, de Gouges's declaration goes further, advocating for women's rights to participate at all levels of government, voice opinions in public, and publicly name the father of their children. It also holds men accountable for children born outside of marriage and extends property rights to women regardless of marital status.
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What was the impact of Olympe de Gougesâs declaration on womenâs rights movements later in history?
Olympe de Gouges's 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the [Female] Citizen asserted women's equality with men and their entitlement to the same citizenship rights. Modeled after the Declaration of the Rights of Man, it demanded women's inclusion in France's National Assembly, emphasizing their natural, inalienable rights.
De Gouges's work challenged conventional views and is considered among the worldâs first feminist writings. Her call for equality in education, work, and politics influenced later feminist movements in the United States and Europe, as activists applied Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality to women's situations.
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Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, pamphlet by French writer and social reformer Olympe de Gouges published in France in 1791. Modeled on the 1789 document known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the [Male] Citizen (DĂ©claration des droits de lâhomme et du citoyen), Gougesâs manifesto asserted that women are equal to men in society and, as such, entitled to the same citizenship rights.
The preamble of Gougesâs pamphlet emphasized that women must be included among those considered part of Franceâs National Assembly. It stated that women, like men, have natural, inalienable, and sacred rights. Those rights, as well as the related duties and responsibilities to society, are outlined in the remainder of the document.
Following the preamble, Gouges included 17 articles outlining the basic rights that should be extended to women, including the right to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression; the right to participate fully in the making of laws that they are to abide by; the right to participate at all levels of government; and the right to voice opinions in public. More radically, Article 11 gives a woman the right to publicly name the father of her children and to be entitled to pass along property to those children. That was one of the more controversial elements of the declaration, because it holds that men who father children outside of marriage must be held accountable for those children just as they are for children fathered within marriage. Article 15 gives women, who were for tax purposes counted as part of a male-headed household, the right to ask public officials about the finances of the household, and Article 17 extends property rights to women regardless of their marital status.
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A postscript to the document urges women to recognize the unequal ways they are treated in society and to take action to remedy those injustices. The declaration further includes a Form for a Social Contract Between Man and Woman. In that contract, a man and a woman agree to unite in an equal partnership within which wealth is communal, belonging to both parties, and, as such, can be divided among all children belonging to either member of the partnership. Furthermore, according to the contract, in the event of a separation of the two parties, that wealth will be set aside for any and all children of either party. Finally, the pamphlet outlines measures that should be taken to provide for widows and young girls deceived by false promises.
In November 1793, two years after the publication of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, Gouges, who had sided with the moderate Girondins during the French Revolution, was tried for and found guilty of treason and was executed by guillotine.