In the Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas we are introduced to the many focal points of the Enlightenment. One of the many aspects of the Enlightenment was that role of women was changed. The Enlightenment was during a time where women were not given much, if at all any opportunities to obtain an education or become a professional in a field of their choice.  At the time women of the upper class had the important role of holding “salons” which were gatherings of assembled in ordered to discuss things that were both intellectual and frivolous in nature. The women and men of the Enlightenment, worked very hard to progress the rights and opportunities of women, and there were even some women who were able to become published writers. The Enlightenment thinkers argued that since God supposedly gave all human beings reason, then women should have the same abilities as men do. While society as a whole may not have accepted the new role of women, they were making great strides to prove their worth as not only mothers and housekeepers, but also formidable, contributing members of society. This legacy that the enlightenment helped build for women, has lead to the world today in which we live in where women have been able to many more things for themselves and be viewed as equal and contributing members of society. While there’s definitely some necessary battles to be won, the rights that women have today would not be here without the forward thinking women and men from the Enlightenment.

Olga Kucherina