Deviant Women of the French Revolution and the Rise of Feminism Book

This work aims to uncover the work of Parisian women who challenged prevailing views of female nature, sought social reforms, and were deemed "deviant" for their writing and/or activism during the French Revolution. While some consideration is given to a discussion of those women activists and public figures accused of being crazy, sexually deviant, or of corrupting future generations, the bulk of analysis focuses on the work of Olympe de Gouges and Manon Roland, both of whom played active political roles in the Revolution and used writing as a means to influence public opinion. While de Gouges took unpopular stances on women's rights, citizenship, and the abolition of slavery, Roland wrote lengthy memoirs documenting her covert means of participating in the political salons and her hidden attempts to shape political and social policies. The work of both authors reveals ideological shifts in how gender was understood and gives a broader understanding of the ways in which women writers struggled to define themselves during the most turbulent period in French history. Lisa Beckstrand is an academic planner in the office of Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin System.