Women in the 19th Century - Charles Fourier (Essay Date 1808)
CHARLES FOURIER (ESSAY DATE 1808)
SOURCE: Fourier, Charles. "Degradation of Women in Civilization." Theorie des Quatre Mouvements et des Destinees Generales, pp. 131-33. Paris, France: n.p., 1841-48.
In the following excerpt, originally published in 1808, Fourier argues that French and English women are treated little better than slaves and that social progress in both countries depends on granting women greater freedoms and rights.
Is there a shadow of justice to be seen in the fate that has befallen women? Is not a young woman a mere piece of merchandise displayed for sale to the highest bidder as exclusive property? Is not the consent she gives to the conjugal bond derisory and forced on her by the tyranny of the prejudices that obsess her from childhood on? People try to persuade her that her chains are woven only of flowers; but can she really have any doubt about her degradation, even in those...
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Primary Sources
- Charles Fourier (Essay Date 1808)
- Nellie Weeton (Journal/Letter Dates 26 January 1810 And 15 September 1810)
- Emma Willard (Address Date 1819)
- Parisian Garment Workers (Petition Date August 1848)
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Speech Date 1848)
- The Sibyl (Letter Date February 1857)
- Louisa Bastian, Mary Hamelton, And Anna Long (Petition Date July 1862)
- Harriet H. Robinson (Report Date 1883)
- Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (Essay Date 1893)
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