In some social circles, calling a woman a feminist is an insult of equal caliber to calling her a harlot. Two hundred years ago, meat was not limited to throwing. The first feminists risked their lives outright.
According to its definition, feminism is an ideology that does not imply the extermination or condemnation of men, but simply the equalization of women in the rights that they already have. For the first time the term féminisme was used in 1837. But several decades ago there were many women fighting for a position in the male world.
When Europe was in turmoil during the French Revolution (1789–1799), women thought that a time of change would come for them, too. As the stories of these rebels show, they were grossly wrong.
After the overthrow of the monarchy, the French Constituent Assembly prepared the "Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights", which contained provisions, inter alia, that all men are born equal and remain equal. Initially, the document did not take into account Protestants and Jews, but over time it was extended to all citizens, provided that ... they were men.
Women were useful when they participated in the revolution, but when it came to shaping the new social order, the gentlemen very quickly decided to thank them and send them back home.
Freedom, equality, discrimination against women?
Their hypocrisy was pointed out by Olimpia de Gouges in her "Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens". Referring to the most famous act of revolution, she demanded things as obvious from today's point of view as the right of women to dispose of their own property, personal freedom and equality in relation to men, or the right to education. One of the most famous parts of her declaration is the sentence:
Since a woman can legally hang from a gallows, she should also be allowed to stand on a podium.
Plaque dedicated to Olympia de Gouges in Paris (photo:Mu - Eigenes Werk, license CC BY-SA 3.0)
Meanwhile, under Robespierre, violence was escalating in France, and the secret police operating in Paris entered homes with doors, brutally arresting residents. Open, feminist criticism of the new order could not be mildly welcomed. Olimpia was imprisoned for her "Declaration". As Charlotte Gordon writes in her new book "Rebels" :
By decision of Robespierre on October 16, Marie Antoinette was executed, and after her death a real storm swept through the country. The leaders of the revolution claimed that the queen was led by "uterine rabies". They wanted the new France to be like ancient Rome, in which "every gender had its place ..., men made the law ... and women, not allowing themselves to question it, agreed to anything."
Baby to garów
Revolutionaries decided that a woman's place was at home and that she should not get involved in political life. After all, its role is to bear children. Although at the beginning of the revolution, women managed to obtain many basic rights, for example, to divorce or inheritance, the Jacobins very quickly revoked them, and even deprived women of further freedoms, forbidding participation in demonstrations and membership in revolutionary clubs. Even the personification of the revolution was changed. Instead of a woman representing Freedom, a male hero appeared, personifying Justice. What about Olympia de Gouges?
The Jacobin regime decided to deal with her ruthlessly. On July 3, 1793, the woman was led to the scaffold, but Robespierre's followers were not simply going to behead her. The writer, who did not know "her place", first decided to humiliate.
They started out by having exposed her in public , and an anonymous Parisian later noted that the fat admired her beauty (that is, she was staring at her naked body!). The torturers, in order to further oppress her, examined her naked genitals and publicly questioned whether she was even a woman . These mean things only enraged Olympia, who walked towards the guillotine with a calm and proud expression on her face. Although she could have avoided death if she had renounced her views, she hadn't thought to capitulate. As Charlotte Gordon writes in her book "Rebels" :
Authorities called on women not to follow her example, questioning her gender identity. " Remember that bitch - it was warned - that baboon , the bold Olympia de Gouges, the first to start women's associations, gave up household chores, wanted to play politics and committed crimes. She was annihilated by the vengeful sword of the law.
These horrific events were watched closely by Mary Wollstonecraft. English writer who recently fought her own fight for independence. She had only just defended the French Revolution in a sharp reply against the influential Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, and then, even before leaving for France, she published "A Cry for Women's Rights." In the book, considered one of the earliest feminist works, she expressed similar views to Olimpia de Gouges. She came to Paris to enjoy freedom and to report on the course of events on an ongoing basis, but fearing for her own life, she did not dare to describe the treatment of representatives of her own sex.
Mary Wollstonecraft in the portrait painted by John Opie (photo:public domain)
In her "Cry for Women's Rights," Mary Wollstonecraft criticized the disadvantage of women in society and called for the equality of rights for both sexes, which would benefit both women and men. Living at a time when ladies were considered underdeveloped, incapable of ethical righteousness, or selfish, she had to prepare herself for a wave of criticism.
Although her supporters considered her a gifted philosopher, opponents considered her a dangerous rebel and destroyer of the social order. Even friends ruthlessly attacked her. Thomas Taylor, who once rented a house to her family, fried the mocking pamphlet called "A Cry for Animal Rights." He explained that since women are equal to men, they are animals ... also. In order to discredit the writer in the eyes of the public, her marital status (she was a maiden by choice), scandals in the family (she pulled her sister out of the house, where her husband regularly raped her almost insane), and conservatives even thought she was a "whore" ”.
Interestingly, Mary lived a rather prudish life and at the time when she began to be discouraged from worship and faith, she did not even have any serious romance. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the hard-hitting critics did not manage to alienate the writer and philosopher. She raised sensitive issues in her texts, not avoiding sex, venereal diseases, marriage law or rape. By openly addressing these issues, she became, in spite of mockery and ruthless attacks, like Olympia, one of the precursors of feminism. And she even managed to survive.
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Trivia is the essence of our website. Short materials devoted to interesting anecdotes, surprising details from the past, strange news from the old press. Reading that will take you no more than 3 minutes, based on single sources. This particular material is based on the book:
- Charlotte Gordon, Rebels. The amazing life of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley , 2019 Poznań Publishing House.