In the passage, Olympe de Gouges argues that women receive undeserving inequality for their gender role in society. There is indication she believes men are at fault because she states, “He wishes to rule as a despot over a sex that is endowed with all intellectual faculties; he claims to enjoy the revolution and reclaim his rights to equality, in order to say nothing more.” The Constitution, initially created by the founding fathers (noted all men), are entirely responsible for placing men above women in society because the Constitution only mentions “men.”

In a bold and desperate tone, Gouges assembles her own Declaration of the Rights of a Woman, and tries to persuade her audience that women are unfairly condemned to being seen as weak and worthless when in fact it is actually the opposite. She believes that without women, the Revolution would be lost and goes on to give explanations and examples of how women are the “pillars” of society. One example would be that women, through “pillow talk,” accessed valuable poltical information. Another example would be their ability to bear babies.

Even though Gouges was desperate, she also knew her limits and was aware that winning women’s rights would not be possible in her time period. Instead, she gave this task to the future generations of both man and woman.

Ariana