Womens role in French Revolution
Contrary to common belief, women were important contributors to the popular movement during the French Revolution. They staged demonstrations and food riots, presented petitions to the National Assembly, and brought the royal family back to the governmental capital. They agitated ceaselessly for the political and civil rights that they deserved, and backed up their demands with well-thought-out logical arguments. The women of 18th century France pioneered through uncharted ideological, political, and social grounds, but their work was fruitless in establishing women's rights in the constitution ratified after the French Revolution. The majority of men believed that women's participation in government was both unnecessary and redundant. Women were assumed to have the same interest and opinions as the men who represented them, and they were repeatedly assured that their husbands, sons, and fathers would always have their best interest at heart. Women were encouraged to support the Revolution by assuming the duties associated with being a good Frenchwomen, not by forming legions or social clubs that argued for equal rights. An aristocratic women's duty was to live simply and modestly, abjuring luxury, and wearing only French-made
As the first exclusively female club, Les Amies also cleared the way for the establishment of Les Citoyennes republicaines revolutionaires (The Society of Revolutionary Republican Women), the most radical women's club of the French Revolution. The ideologies, writings, and actions Etta Palm d'Aelders embodied the ambition of women during the French Revolution and her ideas served as the paradigm for achieving their social objectives. The Citoyennes would patrol the streets and markets attired in a uniform of red pantaloons and caps for liberty searching out individuals suspected of counterrevolutionary activity that they would bring before the revolutionary tribunals for trial. The women were scolded for forsaking their families and reminded that their place was in the home. Condorcet maintained that those who voted against the rights of others, no matter their religion, color, or sex, should forfeit their own rights. She was also a veteran of the Champs de Mars demonstrations, and was well known for her activity in her local Section. Several hundred women invaded the National Assembly and left the deputies with a strong impression on how they felt about being the victims of a 'famine plot' and subsistence. She wanted women to form societies in each department; to tackle social problems, such as wet nursing, the education of women, that would essentially spread Revolutionary ideals throughout all the provinces. Etta seized the Revolution and established herself as a public speaker in the revolutionary club movements who strongly advocated for women's rights. The Assembly felt that women had proven themselves "lacking in the necessary moral and physical strength required to debate, to draw up resolutions, and to deliberate," as Andre Amar, Chairman of the Committee of General Security declared after the complaint of the market women was filed (11). At no stage were women included with in the definitions of citizenship. Their decree was reinforced by the arrival of the Parisian National Guard, led by Lafayette, who was intent on bringing the king back to Paris. Condorcet stood with only a handful of men on supporting women's rights, but there were numerous amounts of women who were ready and willing to speak up and demand what they deserved, most notably Olympe de Gouges. From the outset of the Revolution, women's aspirations for the refinement of grievances merged with the wider goal of establishing a new political and social order. The demands of the two classes of women overlapped in education and prostitution.
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