Sample Essay On How Did Olympe De Gouges Impact Women

Introduction

Olympe de Gouges was among the first women in history to fight for the rights of women. The events occurred during the 18th century when women were supposed to stay at home and look after their children and the husbands. She engaged herself in politics during the time when there was political tension in France and during the French revolution. Gouges joined women’s rights groups such as the Society of Republican and Revolutionary Women (Annie). These groups were fighting for the rights of women in the society. Olympe de Gouges impacted women by educating them that they have the rights to communicate, debate about the Constitution and divorce.
Olympe is well known for her work called The Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen (De Gouges). This work has highlighted all the issues that Olympe thinks needs to be tackled in order to have equality in the society. According to Olympe, the Constitution favored the men more than the women in the society. This inequality was being experienced in most marriages at that time in France. According to the constitution, the women had no rights to divorce (Blanc). The other rights that women were denied any opinion were custody of children after divorce and rights to properties after divorce (Roessler). She believed that women worked harder as the men. The women were working hard in looking after the children and husbands. This fact entitled them to be able to have equal share of their properties. It is a fact that behind a successful man there is a woman. This is the main reason why most women are always fighting for their fair share of property after divorces. Other women were able to be influenced by this and continued to fight for their rights.
In the modern world, there are many countries with female presidents such as Argentina, South Korea, Brazil and Chile. In the 18th century, women were not allowed into politics and therefore, their opinions did not matter. Olympe can be said to have taught women to be able to voice out their opinions. This fact therefore, means that they should have the rights to debate or communicate their opinions publicly. One of the reasons she used to talk about women’s right to debate was that both men and women were eligible for the death sentence then they should have the rights to communicate their opinions (Roessler). This point also shows that both the men and the women follow the same laws of the nation then they should be able to have equal rights (De Gouges). Gouges gave another example of taxation of taxes to point out that women need to voice out their opinions without prejudice. The reason for this was because both the women and men paid taxes equally. The fact that they pay taxes equally means they should be able to take part in the administration processes in the government (De Gouges). This information will educate women that they have the rights to communicate and debate especially on government issues because they take part in financing for the upkeep of the government through taxation.

Work cited

Annie Vergne, Clarissa Palmer. Olympe de Gouges, a beacon of hope. l'Harmattan, 2012. Print
Blanc, Olivier. Marie-Olympe de Gouges . Paris: René Viénet, 2003. Print
De Gouges, Olympe. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen,” Les Droits de la femme. A la Reine: Paris, 1791 in The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Print
Roessler, Shirley Elson. Out of the Shadows: Women and Politics in the French Revolution, 1789-95. 2nd ed. New York : Peter Lang Publishing, 1998. Print
Bibliography
Annie Vergne, Clarissa Palmer. Olympe de Gouges, a beacon of hope. l'Harmattan, 2012. Print
Blanc, Olivier. Marie-Olympe de Gouges . Paris: René Viénet, 2003. Print
De Gouges, Olympe. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen,” Les Droits de la femme. A la Reine: Paris, 1791 in The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Print
Female Badasses in History:Marie Gouze better known as Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793). 5 March 2012. <https://spaceinvaderjoe.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/female-badasses-in-historymarie-gouze-better-known-as-olympe-de-gouges-1748-1793/>. Web
Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (September 1791). 1996. <https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/293/>. Web
Roessler, Shirley Elson. Out of the Shadows: Women and Politics in the French Revolution, 1789-95. 2nd ed. New York : Peter Lang Publishing, 1998. Print