Women's Rights During The French Revolution

It is clear that during the French revolution of 1789 many women wanted to gain rights and equality among citizens. This is evident because of how much they participated and took on leadership roles in political movements. Despite all of their hard work and dedication they were unable to secure their political position. I want to examine what they did and why it may have failed. So, firstly, I will discuss some of the contributions and actions made by women, then I will discuss the reactions of the other citizens and political leaders that were men and then lastly answer the prevalent question: how did these things lead to failure for women’s rights?
There were many big moments for women during this time but I want to highlight and discuss

two of them. The first being the attack of Bastille that foreshadowed the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and thus the daily marches of women. The attack on Bastille came after many women were denied access to the Estates General. They were enraged and ready to literally fight for what they wanted. When the time came to attack Bastille there were women who took on the roles of being ring leaders who lead attacks with stolen weapons. Following this revolutionary victory came the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, unfortunately, this declaration excluded women but it did not quiet their voices. As a matter a fact, women marched through the streets and according to the essay provided in class they weren’t marching because they were angry, “Ostensibly, these marches were acts of thanksgiving for the liberation of the Bastille, the withdrawal of royal troops from the environs of Paris, the establishment of the National Guard as the city's protective force, and the creation of a reformed municipal administration accountable to electors.” It was as if they were being excluded and, yet, included at the same time. Which would explain there excitement.
The second moment I would like to highlight and discuss is the March to Versailles.

This march demonstrated how much control women were gaining during the revolution. Again, according the essay given to us in class a nice sized group of women brought the king back from Versailles to Paris and killed two guards all while trying to speak with the King and National Assembly about bread for their families and closure on the constitution. Another group of women took it upon themselves to enter the National Assembly and participate by voting, speaking, and disrupting procedures! Women were not being held down in a noticeable way during these moments and it is truly fascinating to think about. I would like to go on record and say that women continued to push their political power and succeeded for quite some time at being a part of the National Assembly and as citizens. So, it was not that they weren’t contributing but how other people were reacting, particularly men who did not think women should have political

power.
Men during this time, who were considered citizens by the declaration, were not considering the acts of women to be important or crucial. Men saw themselves as superior to women and therefore much of what women did went, for lack of a better word, unappreciated. Another document given to us in class gave an example of a man’s response to a women’s complaint of inequality: “We men could subsist more easily without women than they could without us. In order for women to have what they need to fulfill their purpose in life, we must give it to them…” This is what I used to understand what a man thought of a woman during this time. They did not see women as equal but as in more need of men than men were of women. This would explain the exclusions of women from the Declaration of Man and Citizen where a woman was not considered a citizen. (Although women overlooked this and participated for a couple years). One may say that because men and women worked together to achieve a republic it meant that they were starting to see each other as equals. I say that the opposite happened because of what happened later after one man spoke out against women in politics.
Just when it looked as if women had a dying chance because of all the advancements in equality that had been made a man by the name of Andre Amar spoke out against women.

He claimed they were causing disorder and called for the prohibition of popular societies of women. He also called into question: “Should women exercise political rights and meddle in political affairs?” All he had to bring up were the duties and so-called attributes of women that were being neglected because of their involvement in politics such as, “reproductive responsibilities, their moral weakness, their inadequate political education, and their nervous excitability”. This was enough to prove to the legislative assembly that women were ineligible citizens and ruined all of the advancements made towards equality. Hence the reason I say that men did not yet see women as equals because of the ease Amar had in proving a woman’s

ineligibility.
In conclusion, I think that women were unable to keep their political participation status because their task was to change the mind of an entire culture. I think they may have even been unaware of the massive amount of bias that was (and may still be) embedded in the minds of the people, men and women. They had a few years of glory and voice but that was nowhere near enough time to fully eradicate the idea that women were lesser and weaker humans. Not only were the minds of men not changed, but the rules were set out in attempt to ensure that women would not see that type of political gain again.