A Woman's Philosophy of Woman; or, Woman affranchised.: An answer to Michelet, Proudhon, Girardin, Legouvé, Comte, and other modern innovatorsHéricourt, Madame d'
Philosophy
A Woman's Philosophy of Woman; or, Woman affranchised.: An answer to Michelet, Proudhon, Girardin, Legouvé, Comte, and other modern innovators
Héricourt, Madame d'
Women's rights -- France
"In the state of society created by the religion of fraternity and
equality, women will find, from their earliest years, _the same means and
the same conditions of development of function and of remuneration_, in
short, THE SAME RIGHTS, the same social aim to pursue as men; and in
proportion as custom shall correspond with the religious and moral ends
of the union, will the living law deduce the practical consequences of
all order, contained in the germ in the dogma of the complete equality of
the sexes.
"4. MONOGAMY AND INDISSOLUBILITY.
"To comprehend the lawfulness of the unlimited or indefinite monogamic
marriage, it suffices to consider: 1st. the exigencies of our inmost
nature, that is, the characteristics of love; its instinctive aspiration
to the union and the fusion of two beings, to duration and to perpetuity;
the necessity of possessing each other reciprocally and of having faith
in this possession _in order to love each other_; in short, instinct,
desire; the irresistible and universal affections, and the joys of
paternity and of the family; 2d. the physiological conditions of
generation, which exact monogamy in order to assure the reproduction and
the good and progressive conservation of the species; 3d. social and
religious exigencies, which require relations of all kinds to be
predetermined and regulated, that each one may be secure in his
expectation and his possession, and that there may be a possibility of
satisfying the fundamental propensities of our natures.... To claim to
introduce polygamy, promiscuousness, or union for a term of years into
such surroundings, (the Philadelphian society,) is evidently to decree
selfishness and mere carnal pleasure, while proclaiming duty and dignity.
It is inconceivable that two moral beings, once united by pure love,
should ever cease to love each other, to delight in each other, or at
least to endure each other, when they are presumed already to be devoted
and sacrificing without distinction in their love to their brothers and
sisters.
"Still less is it conceivable that their brothers and sisters would dream
of diverting this reciprocal love of two members of the family to their
personal advantage; _for this would be infamy_."
M. Pecqueur admits, notwithstanding, that in very rare cases, divorce may
be granted on account of incompatibility of temper. In such case the
offending party would be excluded from the republic, and the other would
be at liberty to remarry.
According to M. Pecqueur, indissolubility of marriage does not relate to
the present antagonistic state of society, as he says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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