Olympe De Gouges 'Declaration Of The Rights Of Women'

Olympe de Gouges wrote this document. She was a butcher’s daughter who directly challenged women’s inferiority to men. This woman was charged with treason and then hanged on November 3, 1793 for fighting for women’s rights. The document states ten articles that give good examples of why women should have equal rights as men and should also be considered a citizen. The ten articles listed are Article 2, Article 3, Article 4, Article 6, Article 7, Article 11, Article 13, Article 14, and Article 17. Some important articles are Article 1, which states how women are born free and their lives should matter just as much as a mans. It also says that you should only look at their common utility when it comes to social distinctions. Also, Article 6 stating that men and women are both equal in the eyes of the law and that both may be employed and hold high positions based on their virtues and talents.

The eighteenth century brought about a great deal of change and a new-found interest in science and reason. Because of this, many great inventions, ideas and innovative theorists arose from this time period. Among them was a forward-thinking essayist by the name of Mary Wollstonecraft. In her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft preaches her belief that the oppression of women is largely due to lack of female education. Although the term "feminism" wasn’t coined until decades later, Wollstonecraft paved the way for future women’s rights movements by advocating equality in education for women. She believed men and women should be equal in the very basic aspects of life, such as in loyalty in marriage. Wollstonecraft

The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 in gave reasons why the United States believed its relationship with Britain could no longer work. The Declaration’s language appealed to enlightenment ideals and liberty rhetoric: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence). Unfortunately, these rights were not given to women, the modern interpretation of this passage gives these rights to both men and women. Once Elizabeth Cady Stanton published her writings, Declaration of Sentiments, it received backlash from men. James Gordon Bennett wrote an article in New York’s Herald criticizing it. “The sentiments and doctrines

After the Declaration of the Rights of Man the first woman to publish a statement titled, “Declaration of the Rights of Woman” should have been expected. Only two years after the original declaration Olympe de Gouges published her statement. That woman greatly inspired Mary Wollstonecraft and she published a statement titled, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” in 1792. Mary was a career woman and made her living by writing and is known for her protests against subjugation of women. Mary believed that everyone would be better off having a woman that is well-educated, independent, strong and capable in the world. She fought against the education system and how men treated women. She strongly opposed how women were only taught about beauty

She was a mother, a moral and political philosopher, a writer, and a feminist. Mary Wollstonecraft was the ideal image of what represented the push towards modern feminism. Some may even consider her as the founding mother of modern feminism itself. Much of Wollstonecraft’s literature is influenced by her own life experiences. In 1785, Wollstonecraft took on an employment opportunity as a governess. While spending most of her time there, she had a moment of epiphany where she realized that she was not suited for domestic work. Soon after, she returned to London and became a translator and wrote for a well-known publisher and discovered her love of writing. Eventually, years later she was then able to publish her most notable work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still a very popular book which can be seen as a guide to becoming a better citizen and understanding feminism in a critical context. This essay will argue that Mary Wollstonecraft is still relevant to the feminist cause today as her views portrayed in her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman are still relatable to many of the feminist issues that currently exist around the world. This essay will do so by comparing how her views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman can still be used as guiding principles to tackle feminist matters.

Declaration of Sentiments is the document which figure out the rights that American women should be entitled to as citizens that bring together from the Seneca Falls Convention which was held on New York in July 1848. It is written firstly by Stanton, was depend or based on the Declaration of Independence to parallel the struggles of the Founding Fathers with those of the women’s mass and movement which was started by keeping the equality of all men and women both genders empowered by rights to life, liberty, and the grand them with happiness. The declaration of sentiments was passage and followed by the 12 resolutions relating to women’s rights and equality. Moreover many women’s lack of property rights in marriage inequality in divorce

Women did not have many rights before the declaration of independence discusses human rights and my more, when the declaration of independence had came out it stated that everyone was now equal so all the laws that were only legal for the men are now legally for the women, the declaration of independence also says that your life, pursuit of happiness and liberty can not be taken away or denied.

The “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” and the “Declaration of the Rights of Woman” declares equal rights to all citizens. As outlined in point 3 in the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”: “The source of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation; no group, no individual may exercise authority not emanating expressly therefrom” (4/6). This statement shows that power is to be exercise by the people and their representatives, and clearly challenged the current rule of the Louis XIV as an absolute monarch. In “The King’s Declaration”, he criticizes the inefficiency and the accumulation of power of the assemblies and explains in different parts of his declaration that his rule as a monarch is important and essential for the well being of France. As Louis XIV points out in “The King’s Declaration”, “The does not think it is possible to govern a kingdom of such great extent and importance as France though the means established by the National Assembly, as they existed at present” (12).

In three documents associated with historical revolutions, Thomas Jefferson’s The Declaration of Independence, the French National Assembly’s The Declaration of the Rights of Man, and Olympe de Gouges’ The Declaration of the Rights of Women, readers are presented with the markedly different perspectives on revolution and reform that their authors held, painting a picture of ideals in revolutions separated by both an ocean and an inherent difference in perceptible motivation. Though each document mentioned is notably more progressive than the last in its criticisms of social inequalities, with The Declaration of the Rights of Man advocating for social justice at the outset, and The Declaration of Independence making no mention of social

As I was examining the potential documents to research, Olympe de Gouges’ “Declaration of the Rights of Woman” was immediately striking to me. Personally, I was familiar with the original document: “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” Therefore, I was interested in learning more about de Gouges’ version. Also, this particular document was striking because of the time period it was written in. The French Revolution is a fascinating period to study because of the implementation of Enlightenment ideals, and then the collapse of a lot of those ideas with the Jacobins and even later with Napoleon Bonaparte. I was interested in learning more about an influential woman of the French Revolution. Specifically, how her works and opinions

After reading from the excerpts of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman I have concluded that the situations of women, as far as rights are concerned, have indeed improved vastly. However, even though their situation has been amended and they are now afforded the same equal rights as men, not all women take advantage of these rights. A fraction of women still care more about their own physical beauty, appearance, and the prospect of finding a husband than anything else. Furthermore even, some of the more juvenile women will even occasionally go so far as to play dumb, thinking to attract the affection of men; while others get so self-obsessed with their appearance that they don’t even have to act in order to be received as dim witted or

The title of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proved that its intended gender selection was completely one sided. The first article within this set of ideals written in The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen said, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good,” ( National Assembly, 1). During the 18th century, the idea of women having rights was non-existent. In response to this 1789 piece of writing Olympe de Gouges, the daughter of a French butcher, challenged the belief that women were inferior to men. In Olympe’s eyes it seemed to her that women have gotten too comfortable with depending on men for everything. She wanted women to at least know they also have rights in society. In her 1791 writing, the Declaration of the Rights of Women, to challenge the revolution she said, “Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind? What advantage have you received from the Revolution? A more pronounced scorn, a more marked disdain,”

In 431 BC there was Equality before the law a set of rules and regulation in Rome that declared everyone equal in the court of law, yet women were bound to rules that no man had to follow, in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared that everyone of everyone race would be considered equal. Yet, Women were held behind by modified ancient tombs and tablets on how to behave, similar to women in 431 BC Rome, while men were told that they are equal. It wasn’t until 1960 when women had all of the same rights as men and now today, women are trying to dismantle the rules and regulation that stopped their mothers and grandmothers from being truly free. But as time went the internet was born and they could bring the fight online. But is that too much? Is claiming oppression and violation of both race and gender while safely in their homes, miles away from any real oppression or racism, and given the opportunity to make a fortune. Is that oppression?, The answer is cleanly no but, why do they keep claiming yes to oppression and racism? One reason may be because they now can use oppression as a way to demonize and demoralize men, specifically men who are caucasian, which is an idea that Wollstonecraft, the author of the Vindication of rights of women herself would be disappointed of.

Marie Olympe de Gouges was a feminist and an advocate of women's rights. Her most famous work was The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, (1791) in which she wrote after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" in 1789 stating that French citizenship was limited to males. Olympe de gouges main arguments that she championed in her Declaration of the Rights of Women and Female Citizens were that women have the same rights as men and her declaration detailed what these rights should be “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression, etc. just as men declared themselves equal to participate in government, she also argued that women should have the right to participate in government and lawmaking, as well as openly voice their opinions. She also claimed rights to publicly name the father of a child born outside of marriage and to confer with public officials on the finical status of the household.

The French Revolution led to reconsidering women’s place in society because the idea of the French Revolution was to find new ways to govern a society. Pre-revolutionary, the social norms for women was to stay home, take care of the children, and be dependent on their husband. Although women had some form of political rights, they were insignificant compared to men. During the French Revolution, women hoped that there would be social, political and economic change away from social norms, but it is seen that women were still experiencing inequality. Feminists like de Olympe de Gouges and Marquis de Condorcet had such difficulty persuading men to recognize women as equals. Even with the influence of ideas of the Enlightenment period, women’s rights were still ignored due to the perception of women being unfit in politics and being more fit in the role of a mother and a wife. The Declaration Rights of Women (1791), published by Olympe de Gouges, challenged the social norms and countered the declaration for men. Soon after, women again were backlashed for trying to obtain rights after Napoleon came into power.