Women's Rights During The French Revolution

In the 1790s, advocacy for women’s rights emerged in strong form largely due to the opening doors of opportunity for questioning the legitimacy of past political establishments. As the French were beginning to question the entire system of monarchy and hereditary succession, educated women saw an opportunity to question the legitimacy of a system that prevents them from flourishing and reaching their full potential. As members of the Third Estate – the bourgeoisie in particular – were beginning to question the entire system of separate estates, female authors saw an opportunity to open a discussion about women’s rights, and took it. As French society was undergoing reforms, Olympe de Gouges, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Judith Sargent Murray recognized an opportunity to push for other reforms: reforms for women’s rights*.
The original declaration was endorsed by the National Assembly on the twenty-seventh of August 1789. As “the most important expression of the French Revolution” (Popkin 33), it clearly outlined the fundamental principles of the new, developing French society. However, it did not include women. De Gouges saw an opportunity to revise it so that it would. Though this example is specific to de Gouges, all three women encapsulated this spirit of seizing opportunities whenever