Women stay put! We are reinventing society (?)

Sydney Kightlinger

Today’s reading is centered around how the men of the Radical Revolution set out to complete reformat everyday society. While they were fine with holding up the status quo for women’s place in society, they felt it was of the utmost importance to change the concept of time?

I found the events detailed in today’s reading to be particularly infuriating because of the obtuse thought of Robespierre and his crew. On page 145, Popkin talks about how language reforms to reaffirm equality and continuity of the nation. I think there is great power in language and think that reevaluating how you address others does promote social change, but in this case it seems like too little when they are beheading anyone who disagrees with them, including  Olympe de Gouges and other women activists. I was further aggravated by the time spent separating society from religion just for them to make a different cult.

Did anyone else have a reading like this? Do you think I am being unjust in characterizing Robespierre and his friends has misogynists?

Also, here is a meme:

One Reply to “Women stay put! We are reinventing society (?)”

  1. I noticed this too, Sydney. You are not being unjust. As we said in class the other day, it is possible for people to exist as having done or said good things while also being bad. But the treatment of women in the revolution goes beyond misogyny. In the handout for today quoting a speech by Robespierre, he uses women as a political tool. He described how other governments mistreating women is a sign of tyranny, yet he does what he does. He is supposedly a dedicated revolutionary to the principles of liberty and equality all while practicing tyranny himself. We see him passing these laws restricting the movement of women and punishing them, all while women aren’t permitted any constitutional rights such as voting or political participation. The revolutionaries left women powerless even after groups of women are what fueled the revolution.

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