According to The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas, in enlightenment era, the idea of men are created equally was firstly introduced and became the mainstream. Many philosophers also began to argue that men are created equally regardless of their race and gender. Those arguments provided the footstone for movement such as the abolitionist movement in America and the women right movement around the world. Before the enlightenment, women were trapped in the domestic environment since it’s hard for them to get engaged in the society. The Enlightenment Movement provided such opportunities. The “saloon” became the stage where women demonstrated their talent and intelligence. Women successfully proved that they were competent to other roles besides housewife. But, those were insufficient to bring up the wave of women right movement. Firstly, women right was not the mainstream of Enlightenment movement. Secondly, the general role of women didn’t change until the Industry Revolution.  During the Industry Revolution, women were able to escape from domestic environment and worked in factories. Active engagement in society and relative financial independence are the keys to make a difference. However, we cannot deny that the first step is always the hardest. Without their efforts during the Enlightenment Movement, it would take much longer to entitle all human being indeed equality.

Xiaoyan Lin