Impact of the French Revolution on Women - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Demographically, mortality rate was higher than the fertility rate which was a result of the agricultural production that was at high demand but low on manufacturing. Economically, the French Revolution started the organization process of the production and distribution of goods to improve on the efficiency of business activities. In the area of agriculture, this was a time where a lot of people had to leave their lands mandatorily to provide more labor opportunities that would encourage urban industrialization. Industrially, new machinery and the making of new roads were introduced to make transportation easier and faster. Lastly, ideological revolution took place as total freedom of thought, speech, and at the same time reliance on scientific method were embraced to improve education that was believed to be the key to a successful society (History 1C: The French Revolution and Women's Rights, n.d.). With the French Revolution being summed up into a list of ideals and movements that would seek to improve society as a whole, it was able to solve the inequality that existed between men and women. Before, the French embraced the mindset that women’s primary role would be to support and nurture their families while intellectual and political matters belonged to the authority of men. However, the French Revolution became the bridge that started empowering women’s natural and moral rights. Because of Mary Wollenstonecraft, who challenged French leaders to rethink the unequal educational opportunities for men and women where the latter were only allowed to get access to them in the confines of their own homes that limit learning, women are now able to enjoy freedom in education (Women and the Revolution, n.d.). She was able to convince the French leaders to believe in women’s capacity at par with that of men’s by asking them to prove first that women lack reason as compared to men. Another impact of the French Revolution on women would be earning them to be seen as fit as men to be involved in juridical proceedings. Women started being able to voice out what they think and feel in as simple as forming groups to protest against the high bread prices or the shortage of food (Women and the French Revolution, n.d.). A perfect example of which would be the case of Marie-Rose Barre, a twenty year old lace worker who was one of the hundred women who went to Versailles to ask for bread from the king because there was a limited resource of food made available to them. Though there were guards who watch the palace, they allowed the women to express their distress directly to the king which only the men were able to do before the French Revolution. Also, in this occasion, these women were also able to voice out what they think would be able to solve this worsening situation when they suggested that the king would arrange companions during flour transports in Paris to speed up the process and make sure the delivery intended for Paris are exactly provided as only a few wagons make it to the delivery at the bridge of Sevres (Levy, D.G., Applewhite, H.B., & Johnson, M.D., 1979). This single incident led to the opportunity of examining the relations between men and women. Men, who were seen as higher or of more value than women were now being seen to have certain attributes that are considered as their strength yet at the same time recognizes some of their weak points in which women are strong at. One of which would be in dealing with management of the house. However, the French Revolution did not only earn women’s rights to form groups and perpetrate a riot to fight for their grievances but they started to be seen as significant in political undertakings. A concrete example where the relations bet ...Download file to see next pagesRead More