Profs & Pints DC: Women and the French Revolution

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Women and the French Revolution,” a look at feminism's role and rise in France’s transformative conflict, with Amy Leonard, associate professor of history at Georgetown University.

Historians generally trace the beginnings of modern feminism to the French Revolution, when activists inspired by the calls for liberty and equality pushed also for the inclusion of women. Come learn in detail how that conflict was shaped by women and feminism and would influence feminist thought in centuries to come.

We’ll start by tracing the early stirrings and evolution of feminist thought, looking at early proto-feminist Renaissance writers such as Christine de Pizan and the querelle des femmes (“The Woman Question”), the literary debate about the status of women that began about 1500. Then we’ll focus on the French Revolution as a watershed event, not only for women and feminism but for political and social rights in general.