The Nexus Archive
Early Feminism
Olympe de Gouges
The Declarant of Equality · Age of Revolution, 1748-1793
De Gouges turns revolutionary rights language back on a politics that excluded women from citizenship.
- Women's citizenship
- Rights
- Equality
- Public office
- Revolutionary law
Life
Olympe de Gouges was a French playwright and political writer of the Revolution. Her 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen recast revolutionary rights around women's citizenship, legal equality, property, speech, taxation, and public office.
The question
“What happens when universal rights are applied to women without exception?”
Argued against
Revolutionary universality that excludes women, legal inequality, and public rights limited by sex.
Why Olympe de Gouges matters
De Gouges gives Nexus a direct revolutionary countertext to male-only declarations of rights and citizenship.
Quests with Olympe de Gouges
- Voices of Equality A demand for intellectual authority, equal dignity, and citizenship without permission. Voices of Equality Quest