The Role Of Women In The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment and the Role of Women in Society
The Age of Enlightenment was a large cultural movement of educated individuals around the 17th and 18th centuries. The purpose of the Enlightenment was to challenges ideas that were rooted in faith and tradition, mold society using reason, and advance knowledge through a new scientific method. Different societies rose during this time period and discussed a wide range of topics. One widely discussed topic was the role of women in society. Societies mainly debated over the role of women in the public sphere. Two documents, specifically, had a great impact on the Enlightenment era. The first of the two, being Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King, was written by a group of working …show more content…
They carefully insisted that they did not want to become equal with men and simply wanted education and enlightenment. They also use a large amount of flattery in order to lighten the King’s mood. The women express themselves to the King by saying things like “the love we have for your majesty” and how “we see in you only a tender father, for whom we would give our lives a thousand times.” With these small requests and the women’s adulation toward the King, the overall argument seems like it would be fairly strong during the period of the French …show more content…
He acknowledged that woman were equal in humanity through reason and justice. Condorcet rejected the idea that women’s physical differences were a good enough reason to reject them of their civil and political rights. Although he did in fact recognize women’s limitations, not in gender, but in the lack of education and different circumstances. Many that are opposed of these statements also argue that giving women political rights would disrupt the social order, assuming that women would abandon their domestic affairs. He reassures those by saying, “It is natural for a woman to nurse her children, to care for them in their infancy; attached to her home by these cares, weaker than a man, it is also natural that she lead a more retiring, more domestic life. Women would therefore be in the same class with men who are obliged by their station or profession to work several hours a
The Age of Enlightenment was a large cultural movement of educated individuals around the 17th and 18th centuries. The purpose of the Enlightenment was to challenges ideas that were rooted in faith and tradition, mold society using reason, and advance knowledge through a new scientific method. Different societies rose during this time period and discussed a wide range of topics. One widely discussed topic was the role of women in society. Societies mainly debated over the role of women in the public sphere. Two documents, specifically, had a great impact on the Enlightenment era. The first of the two, being Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King, was written by a group of working …show more content…
They carefully insisted that they did not want to become equal with men and simply wanted education and enlightenment. They also use a large amount of flattery in order to lighten the King’s mood. The women express themselves to the King by saying things like “the love we have for your majesty” and how “we see in you only a tender father, for whom we would give our lives a thousand times.” With these small requests and the women’s adulation toward the King, the overall argument seems like it would be fairly strong during the period of the French …show more content…
He acknowledged that woman were equal in humanity through reason and justice. Condorcet rejected the idea that women’s physical differences were a good enough reason to reject them of their civil and political rights. Although he did in fact recognize women’s limitations, not in gender, but in the lack of education and different circumstances. Many that are opposed of these statements also argue that giving women political rights would disrupt the social order, assuming that women would abandon their domestic affairs. He reassures those by saying, “It is natural for a woman to nurse her children, to care for them in their infancy; attached to her home by these cares, weaker than a man, it is also natural that she lead a more retiring, more domestic life. Women would therefore be in the same class with men who are obliged by their station or profession to work several hours a