Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Women In The Enlightenment
After reading about the Later Enlightenment, one main concept caught my attention. This concept was the role, however small or big, that women played in the Enlightenment. During the later Enlightenment (during the 1800's), there were some highly educated french women who were of high class. These women held litirary salons where great aristocrats, wealthy middle-class financiers, high-ranking officials, and noteworthy foreigners came and discussed uncensored observations on literature, science, and philosophy. The main role of Women in the enlightenment was to advocate it. These women were called philosophes, intellectuals who strongly endorsed progress. These women publically supported the enlightenment by discussing their opinions on the matter and basically spreading the word to other women. They also helped other philosophes to avoid censorship. The main questions here are: did women really benefit from their part, was their role in the Enlightenment that significant, and if so what did they accomplish (how did they help the enlightenment to progress)? In my opinion, no, the women's role was not that significant. They did not benefit from it because the philosophes barley mentioned the rights and abilities of women. Even Rousseau, an important enlightenment thinker, stated that men and women were in seperate spheres and that women should not be granted the same rights as man, even going as far to say that women who "pulled the strings of power" had a corrupting effect on politics and society. What do you guys think?
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ReplyDeleteI disagree and agree with you. No, women did not benefit long term from the enlightenment. In fact some philosophers did advocate less freedom for women. However, I do think that women were significant. Like the medieval Universities, salons were places where intellectuals and philosophes could come and talk about key ideas of the enlightenment without the worry of being censored. This sort of idea exchange was very important because it not only exposed people to new ideas, but it let them collaborate, and as wee have observed, collaboration can lead to many important concepts. Also, even though ideas about the freedom of women were not discussed, women were there, as these new ideas were being formed. Giving them the opportunity to educate themselves and the other women they knew. In sherman it is stated, "outside the powerful French court and frequently in opposition to it, these new social circles offered women a new possibility: that of being a saloniere... being a saloniere a woman brought the circles of power into her home" (Sherman 49).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexa. I feel that though women were not directly and immediately affected, they did benefit from the Enlightenment. Their role in the Enlightenment may have been understated at the time, but that is far from so now. We now realize that with women facilitating the salons,provided a place where the male thinkers of the Enlightenment could form ideas. One prominent women was Madame Geoffrin who was partially responsible for saving the Encyclopedia through not only funding, but providing a place for Diderot and d'Alembert to collaborate. The women may not have received direct respect or appreciation, but the role they played was vital in the Enlightenment, especially because it was at a time where the number of philosophers had increased and needed places to share their ideals. Their contribution to the philosophical world may not have granted them any special regard, but it did provide a place to culminate ideas and to collaborates so as to form theories. In my opinion, the fact that women did not get an increase of rights and the fact that misogynistic philosophers discredited them does not mean that they gained nothing from the Enlightenment because the ideas that they helped create were for the benefit of all people, male and female.
ReplyDeleteI feel that women did indeed contribute to the growth of the Englightenment, using these salons. The salons, as Nicole had mentioned, offered a place for middle to upper class people to discuss ideas and philosophy. The discussing of ideas in these salons shared ideas, and allowed philosophy and information to flow into the general population, allowing people to express their own beliefs, and having knowledge about the bigger philosophers and support their preferred ones. Also, women had Coffe houses and debate societies, where people could freely argue their ideas. The women's' presence ensured civilized conversation. The salon became an instrument of intellectual and political power. It was said that to enter the "Academie francaise", or the French Academy, for example, one had first to receive the approval of Madame de Lambert. Madame de Lambert was one of the top salon hosts during the Enlightenment. Women had played a large role in shaping the public's opinion. Although they're contributions were not direct or extremely meaningful, they had an impact on the Enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Women did not contribute to the Enlightenment at all. Sure, they facilitated discussion, but they were not truly regarded with respect. Instead, they acted as "housewives who made dinner for the arguing, philosophical men". For more on my opinion of women in the Enlightenment, check out my blog post on my personal page. It is linked on the class hub.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, in the American Revolution women had more of a political impact. For example, middle- class women created the Daughters of Liberty, an equivalent to the Sons of Liberty.
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