All key notes I would like to know

  • Revolution → having a political voice + universal suffrage
    • women had no agency → no political voice
    • La marche des feministes sure Versailles
    • finally gave women a platform to use their political voice
    • Voting assemblies →
    • Olympe de Gouge →

    She wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women, in which she stated: "A woman has the right to be guillotined; she should also have the right to debate." She campaigned for the right for women to divorce and obtained it. She campaigned in favour of a system of civil partnerships that would replace religious marriage.3

  • 19th century → focused on education

    • education

    • 1850 Falloux law → 800+ inhabitants must have a primary school for girls

      • allowed all girls to gain an education and not just the rich ones

    • Julia Victoire → became the first woman to pass the bac

      • showed the men that women could be as smart as them
      • gave more women an opportunity to be highly educated
      • made it easier for women to get higher paid jobs and independence

    • 1853 → Schooling in France was class-divided with secondary schools, which taught Latin and Greek, intended for the middle classes.

    • legal rights

    • Napoleon’s 1804 Civil Code → gave men legal authority over their wives and children and established married women as legal minors.

      • “Le mari doit protection à sa femme, la femme obeissance à son mari”

    • between 1816-1884 divorce was forbidden

      • was difficult because women were considered legally the property of the husband when they got married and so it was difficult for a woman to gain independence

    • In February 1848, the provisional government recognized three rights essential to the new democratic and social republic: universal suffrage, education, and employment

  • 20th century

    • Women's suffrage: In 1920, French women gained the right to vote in national elections
    • Access to education: During this period, feminist activists in France campaigned for increased access to education for girls and women.
    • This led to the creation of new schools and universities that were open to women, and a greater emphasis on equal educational opportunities for both genders.
    • Maternity leave: In 1923, France became one of the first countries in the world to introduce paid maternity leave for women, which was seen as a significant step forward for women's rights.
    • gave women the ability to maintain an income and job
    • Divorce: Prior to the 1920s, divorce in France was difficult and often expensive, with women having few options for leaving unhappy marriages. However, feminist activists were able to push for changes to divorce laws, which made the process easier and more affordable for women
    • women were able to gain more independence

  • Simone de Beauvoir

    • She demands that women be treated as equal to men and laws, customs and education must be altered to encourage this
    • The Second Sex, published in 1949, was a groundbreaking feminist text that challenged traditional ideas about women's roles and identity.
    • The book argued that women were not a separate, inferior category of humans but rather a social construct created by patriarchal societies.
    • Beauvoir's concept of 'The Other' has also had an impact on French feminism.
    • The concept refers to the way in which people who are considered outside of the dominant group are often treated as inferior or different. De Beauvoir argued that women were 'The Other' in patriarchal societies, and this concept has been used to analyse the experiences of marginalised groups more broadly.
      • she inspired the feminists today to focus on more marginalised groups, giving rise to intersecionality

  • 1980s

    • A national feminist studies association ANEF (Association nationale des études féministes) brought together students and scholars.
    • ANEF participates in the European Women’s Studies Network (ANEF 1995).
    • L'Association nationale des études féministes (ANEF) est une association à but non lucratif française fondée en 1989 ayant pour but de promouvoir les études féministes et sur le genre en France et à l'international.
      • Allowed France’s views on feminsim to become more international
      • It was a globalised french feminsim
      • focuses the creation of positions, teams and research programs at all levels of education, in public and private education, training and research organizations
    • Muslims

    For example, the term “feministe musulmane,” or “Muslim feminist,” has been widespread amongst the Muslim community in France since the early 2000s. * The term was created in hopes of fighting against the notion that Muslims couldn’t be feminists because their religion was “inherently sexist. * Lallab est une association féministe et antiraciste dont le but est de faire entendre les voix et de défendre les droits des femmes musulmanes qui sont au coeur d’oppressions sexistes, racistes et islamophobes. Nous apportons un changement de paradigme dans le système politique français de lutte contre les discriminations.