WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT

DUAL EFFECT ON WOMEN & VIEWS OF WOMEN  Some promotion of women’s rights  Liberty & equality should apply to women as well as men  Laid foundations of modern feminism  Persistence of ideas of inferiority & subjugation  Women mostly excluded from discussions of liberty & equality  Rise of ideology of domesticity

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT BACKGROUND  Foundations of potential equality found in 17 th century thinkers  Descartes: All women had ability to be educated  Locke: Women equally independent in state of nature

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT THE PHILOSOPHES ON WOMEN  The positive views  Some blamed society for women’s inequality  MARQUIS DE CONDORCET: proclaimed women’s right to equal citizenship & education Believed in women’s intellectual potential

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT THE PHILOSOPHES ON WOMEN  The negative views  Promotion of old notions of women’s inferiority & weakness  Women continually linked with irrationality & emotion  Excluded from discussions of liberty, equality, reason, science

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT THE PHILOSOPHES ON WOMEN  ROUSSEAU  Social contract included one between men & women men protect women women serve men  Emile: articulation of idea of SEPARATE SPHERES men = public women = private glorified domesticity

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT WOMEN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT  Many women greatly affected by ideas of Enlightenment  Women influence Enlightenment as salonnieres & sponsors  Women began to demand greater role in intellectual life MADAME DE GEOFRIN

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT WOMEN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT  MARY ASTELL ( )  Challenged notion of separate spheres  Criticized failure to extend notions of liberty to women

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT WOMEN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT  MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT ( )  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

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT WOMEN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT  OYMPE DE GOUGES ( )  Declaration of the Rights of Woman asserted women’s ability to reason & make moral decisions women not same as men, but equal women had right to free speech

WOMEN AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT CONCLUSIONS  Did not result in advances for most women in 18 th c.  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 largely restricted women  But gave birth to new feminist consciousness & advocacy of rights & opportunities for women