Women of the Enlightenment

Background

• From Renaissance to Enlightenment, women consistently considered inferior to men with domestic role in society

• Representation & attitude toward women gradually improved– Particularly through literature– New intellectual trends: novel & salon– Gave new public voice– Saw some first signs of feminism, although strict gender

roles were promoted

• Foundations of equality found in 17th century thinkers– Descartes – All women had ability to be educated– Locke – Women equally independent in state of nature

Dual Effect on Women • Some promotion of women’s rights

– Liberty & equality should apply to women as well as men

– Laid foundations of modern feminism– Individualism & rationality challenged

women’s relegated role in society

• Persistence of ideas of inferiority & subjugation– Women mostly excluded from

discussions on liberty & equality– Rise of ideology of domesticity

• Women’s role as mothers & wives• Place in the home

– Writers separated women as opposites of men (Rousseau)

Philosophes on Women• Positive views

– Some blamed society for women’s inequality

– Believed in women’s intellectual potential

– Marquis de Condorcet –proclaimed women’s right to equal citizenship & education

• Negative views– Promotion of old notions of

inferiority & weakness– Women continually linked with

irrationality & emotion– Excluded from philosophical

discussions

Rousseau on Women

• Social contract included one between men and women–Men protect women–Women serve men

• Emile: articulation of separate spheres–Men = public–Women = private– Glorified domesticity

Women of the Enlightenment

• Many women greatly affected by ideas of the Enlightenment

• Influenced Enlightenment as salonnieres & sponsors

• Began to demand greater role in intellectual life

Women of the Enlightenment

• Mary Astell 1666-1731– Challenged notion of separate spheres– Criticized failure to extend notions of

liberty to women

• Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797– Wrote A Vindication of the Rights of

Woman– Advocated equality of sexes– Formulated main doctrines of modern

women’s movement– Education was key to equality &

independence

• Oympe de Gouges 1745-1793– Wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman– Asserted women’s ability to reason &

make moral decisions– Women not same as, but equal to men– Had right to free speech

Conclusions

• Did not result in advances for most women– Education extended, but became gender-

specific – Women excluded from many fields– Economic setbacks due to rise of capitalism– Separation of public & private – Ideology of domesticity restricted women

• Gave birth to new feminist consciousness & advocacy of rights & opportunities for women

Broad Summation• Throughout the majority of Western history, women

were relegated in European society to the confines of the domestic sphere. Women were prohibited from enjoying any legal, political, or economic rights, and were primarily regarded as instruments for men’s happiness.

• Women were traditionally depicted as fitting one of two primary stereotypes – the highly sexualized seductress or the chaste, virtuous mother, daughter, or wife

• From the Renaissance through the enlightenment, women did experience some improvement in their social position, particularly through literature; however, for the most part they continued to be denied access to the public sphere.

Class Activities

• Primary Source Reading:– Wollstonecraft VS

Rousseau

• Discussion: the paradox of Enlightenment ideology & the treatment of women / non-Europeans