Forms Women's Anger Took During the Dual Revolution - Essay Example

Dual Revolution refers to the period between 1789 and 1848 within which the ideological and political changes of the French revolution joined with the economic and technological advancement induced by the Industrial Revolution. During the dual revolution in France and England, women participated in virtually most of the aspects, but their involvement always proved controversial. For instance, the status of women in the society, family, and politics had been a subject of polemics whereby in the 18th century, those who considered or favored the improvement of the status of women insisted majorly on the rights of women to education rather than other democratic rights. According to most of the enlightenment writers, they took a traditional stance on the issues of women by viewing them as biologically thus socially different from men implying that women were destined to play a domestic role within families rather than social or political settings.

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On the other hand, Audre Lorde, an American writer, a civil rights activist, and feminist, derives that women were angered during the various events in the dual revolution by defining that the women's anger could be productive, change-making, and useful. Thus, the occurrence brings about the question concerning the different forms of women's anger took during the dual revolution in France and England. Also, it creates the need to understand the various kinds of change the women's anger built (Lorde, 1984, p. 131).

The issue concerning women's rights is an occurrence that pushed women to various extents during the 18th and 19th century. In most of the cases, the women were struggling to achieve the education they needed as well as acquire a significant recognition in the society. However, the issue concerning women's anger took various forms. For instance, some of the kinds of women's anger include the anger of exclusion, racial distortions, betrayal, cooptation, defensiveness, ill-use, and the anger of stereotyping. Through the various forms, the defines some of the numerous challenges that the female gender has to go through during the dual revolution among others for instance within France.

Majorly, women were excluded in a significant collection of the French constitution since they were discriminated in terms of their rights. In the form of women's anger regarding anger of exclusion, it is amongst the primary aspects that affected women during the French revolution. According to De Gouges (1791), feminists demand equal inclusion in the French administration in terms of their rights were met with great restrictions under French customs and law. Primarily, the women were considered to belong in the private sphere of the home and had no significant role in public affairs. For example, it is evident that most of the women in France and England worked as laundresses, shopkeepers, and peasants since their sex and not their occupations defined them. Even though the feminist demands found vociferous expression during the early years of dual revolution and had deep roots in the enlightenment, they received minimal consideration from the French administration. The constitution was structured in such a manner that it did not include significant issues concerning women. Moreover, the law was drawn was lacking serious involvements of the possibility of women's suffrage and gave minimal attention to topics such as women's right to property and financial independence, legal equality within marriage, and the right to divorce. Even though the subsequent revolutionary legislation was to make the inheritance and property rights of women stronger and confer great equality within marriage as well as giving them parity under the divorce law, the advantages and gains were significantly eliminated by the Napoleonic code in the dual revolution.

Additionally, the women's fury took the form of anger of cooptation, betrayal, and stereotyping. During the period within the dual revolution, politics was the order of the days especially after the fall of Bastille in 1789. It was during the continuing shortage of bread when rumors surfaced that the royal guards at the king's palace had trampled on the revolutionary color by plotting a counterrevolution when a vast crowd of women decided to get involved by marching towards Versailles in demand for accountability from the king. The political participation of women was not confined to demonstrating since they began attending meetings about civic clubs which was a significant milestone in guaranteeing women rights. Within this form of women's anger, Marie-Jean Caritat opted to publish a news article in support of the political rights of women arguing that it is high time women begin to enjoy the equal political rights like the men.

Women never gained full political reasons during the French Revolution since none of the national assemblies ever considered legislation giving women the political rights they so much wanted. In their participation they took various forms such as demonstrating the food prices, involving in movements against the revolution, joining clubs organized by women, among other occurrences that transpired the rage they had concerning the legislation (Kates, 2006). Similarly, the occurrence relating to the anger of racial distort and ill-use is another form of women's violence during the revolution period. Within the constraints of this form of women's rage, the women were subjected to gender-based bias whereby they could not involve in numerous activities due to their gender. Also, they have racially segregated an occurrence that worsened to occasion in different ways (Scott, 1986, p. 1053-1075).

The different forms that women's anger took during the dual revolution in England and France created various changes. For example, even as the women did not achieve the political rights they much wanted, they were playing a different role as symbols of revolutionary values. In the case of revolutionary values, most of them included equality, liberty, fraternity, among other benefits that were represented by the female figures. Moreover, even though the legislation and other male revolutionary refused to grant women the equal rights they wanted, they included them on everything through imagery, for example, in coins, letterheads, playing card, among other materials. As a result, this occurrence implies that women could be viewed as real-life stories of heroism.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the involvement of women's anger in different forms that could be productive, useful and change-making according to Audre Lorde, is evident as women participated in the French Revolution which is one of the changed the anger created. For instance, the women were able to demonstrate various political moments, supported various government-approved clergymen, made bandages for the war effort, stood in interminable bread lines, and also kept the government on teas concerning multiple policies. However, one of the primary changes that women's anger created involved steering the development in the French revolution as well as maintaining that women acquire the rights they needed. Also, women were able to push for the education they much required since it played a significant role in ensuring that they remained empowered. Primarily, the significant milestones revolve around the ability of women to make productive changes to the legislation among other social and political settings.

Works Cited

De Gouges, Olympe. "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen." The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History (1791): 124-129.

Kates, Gary, ed. The French Revolution: recent debates and new controversies. Taylor & Francis, 2006.

Lorde, Audre. "The uses of anger: Women responding to racism." Sister outsider 127 (1984): 131.

Scott, Joan W. "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis." The American Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 5, 1986, pp. 1053-1075. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1864376.