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womens fight for equality
Women’s Fight for Equality The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution served as a turning point in altering the prestige of women; these two events gave women the opportunity to try and level themselves with the male population. Comparatively, the women of these revolutions put forth their best effort to change their role. Women during these revolutions didn’t have significant rights. As time progressed, women achieved more rights and privileges, which served as a step towards changing their role in society. Even though many of the rights gained in the Russian Revolution were taken away, they still served a step in the direction of equality for women. Also, women of the French Revolution made some progress in their desires to be more than a housewife and the property of the man. In contrast, the Bolsheviks or “majority” of the Russian Revolution were more active in their effort to gain women’s right than in the French Revolution. Also, women’s roles in the Russian Revolution increased as the revolution radicalized. Despite the differences, women’s courage through these revolutions led people to inquire whether the previously known gender roles were to be looked upon anew and then to act on this new outlook. How revolutionaries viewed women in both the French and Russian revolutions played a role in their ability to succeed in gaining rights. A majority of deputies viewed women as feeble; they said that women were inordinately emotional (Wilson 13). As a result when women activists demanded universal suffrage, Sieyès, spoke for the deputies in saying that women should have no direct influence on government and should rather stick to their maternal roles. Revolutionary leaders believed that a woman’s position in society was not equivalent to the position of the male; they believed this due to the idea of domesticity. This view on women was what was accepted until 1944, when women gained the right to vote. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was


Cited: Alderman, CLifford. Liberty! Equality! Fraternity! The Story of the French Revolution. Julian Messner: New York, 1965. Print.  Anderson, James. Daily Life During The French Revolution. London: Greenwood Press, 2007. Print.  Andress, David. The French Revolution and the People. Hambledon and London: London and New York, 2004. Print.  Barnes, Andrew. "Russian Revolution of 1917." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web.  20 Oct. 2013. http://worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar748536 &st=Russian+Revolution+Women Carmichael, Joel. A Short History of the Russian Revolution. 2nd. New York: Basic Books, 1964. Print.  Fairfax, Kathy. Comrades in Arms: Bolshevik Women in the Russian Revolution. Australia: Resistance Books, 1999. Print. Figes , Orlando. A People 's Tragedy. New York: Viking Penguin, 1997. Print  Rosenberg, Acton. Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution 1914-1921. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1997. Print.  Smele, Jonathan. "War and Revolution in Russia 1914-1921." BBC. 10 Oct 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front _01.shtml Wilson, R. McNair. Women of the French Revolution. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1936. Print.
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