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
"Art. II. _There should be perfect equality between the two sexes._
"Art. III. No bond except that of mutual love can link the man and the
woman together.
"Art. IV. Nothing shall prevent lovers who have separated from forming
new ties as often as they shall be attracted to another person."
The ethics of M. Dezamy are not to our taste; we prefer those of the
Communist, Pecqueur; but we are glad to prove that modern communism,
divided on the questions of marriage, the family, and morals in relations
of the sexes, is unanimous with respect to the liberty of woman and the
equality of the sexes before the law and society.
In this, modern communism is greatly superior to that of the ancient
school, practised among several nations, and taught by Plato, Morelly,
etc. We recognize a sign of the times in this juster appreciation of
woman, with the introduction of the principle of her rights into
doctrines which formerly never took them into account.
The greater part of the Communists belong to the working class; which
proves that the people most of all feel the great truth, _that the
liberty of woman is identical with that of the masses_; and it will take
more than MM. Proudhon, Comte, Michelet and their adepts, to throw cold
water on their feelings and to make them retrace their steps.
SAINT SIMONIANS.
My mother, a zealous Protestant and very austere in morals, disapproved
of St. Simonianism, and never permitted any one to speak of it in my
presence except to condemn it; she took great care that not a line of the
new doctrine should fall under my eyes.
Whether from a natural spirit of opposition or from instinctive justice,
I know not, but I by no means shared in the censure that I heard
expressed about me; one thing alone resulted from it--curiosity to become
acquainted with what were called immoral dogmas.
I was in this frame of mind when one day while with my mother in the
neighborhood of the _Palais du Justice_, I saw a company of men
advancing, clad in a graceful costume; they were the Saint Simonians
going in a body to defend their infant church against prosecution at the
bar. I was greatly moved by the sight; I felt in communion with these
youth who were about to bear testimony to their faith; they did not seem
like strangers, but as struggling for my own cause or for one that
deserved my sympathy, and tears sprang to my eyes. I could have heartily
embraced those whom I heard defending them, and as heartily have assailed
those who claimed that it would be just to condemn them. My mother being
too generous to join with the latter, we departed in silence. I knew,
without having any knowledge of the details, that the church of St. Simon
had been dispersed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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