Summary Of The Declaration Of Rights Of Woman By Olympe De Gouges

In the eighteenth century, the French Revolution had just begun, epitomized by the words liberte, egalite, and fraternite. Following the Enlightenment, natural rights were at the forefront of public discourse and expressions such as “reason” and “nature” were used to argue for equality in society. However, women were oftentimes left out of the conversation. Hoping to expose revolutionaries for this oversight, Olympe de Gouges wrote “The Declaration of the Rights of Woman” that delineated the natural rights of all French individuals. The Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, to which de Gouges’s work is a direct response, evaluated the relationship between citizens and the state and successfully influenced amendments to the French Constitution regarding political rights for religious groups. Nevertheless, the National Assembly continued to neglect women’s rights and the Revolution similarly did not incite change in this realm. De Gouges saw this as an issue when, at the time, men were arguing that political institutions were created to protect inalienable human rights— “liberty, property, security, and
Additionally, de Gouges argues that both women and men should “assure the recognition of children by their fathers” and mothers, as the responsibility of a child should be shared among both parents. These arguments are quite limited in that they are written from the perspective of women, marginalized voices in society and politics. She is asking for an avenue to articulate the adversity of women, yet is acknowledging that this agency does not exist; therefore, it seems like a circular argument that would not have been very compelling or provocative at the