Declaration of the Rights of Women

The Declaration of the Rights of Women was written in France in 1791 by Olympe de Gouges. Modeled on the 1789 document, the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the Declaration of the Rights of Women stated that women were equal to men in society and as such were entitled to the same citizenship rights. The preamble emphasized that the women need to be included among those considered part of the national assembly. It continues in stating that women, like their male counterparts, have natural, inalienable, and sacred rights. These rights, as well as the related duties and responsibilities to the society are outlined in the remainder of the document. Following the preamble, de Gouges included 17 articles that outlined the basic rights that should be extended to women. These rights included the right to liberty, property, and security; the right to participate fully in the making of laws that they were to abide by; the right to participate at all levels of government; and the right to voice opinions in public. More radically, Article XI gives a woman the right to publicly name the father of her children and to be entitled to pass along property to these children. This was one of the controversial elements of this document because it proclaims that men who father children outside of marriage should be held accountable for those children in the same ways that they would be accountable to children fathered within marriage. Article XV gives women, who were for tax purposes counted as part of a male headed household, the right to ask public officials about the finances of the household, and Article XVII extends property rights to both men and women regardless of whether they are married or not. Following the articles, the document contains a postscript that calls women to recognize the unequal ways that they are treated in society and to take action to remedy these injustices. The document also includes a Form for a Social Contract Between Man and Woman. In this contract, a man and a woman agree to unite in an equal partnership. Within this partnership, wealth is communal, belonging to both parties, and, as such, can be divided among all children belonging to either member of the partnership. Furthermore, according to the contract, in the event of a separation of the two parties, that wealth will be set aside for any and all children of either [Page 190]party. Finally, the Declaration outlines measures that should be taken to provide for widows and young girls who were deceived by false promises. Two years after the publication of the Declaration of the Rights of Women, de Gouges was tried for and found guilty of treason and was executed in November of 1793.