Gabrielle Suchon (1632-1703) was a French philosophical writer whose works explored women’s rights and gender equality. One of Suchon’s most famous works, “On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen”, describes her view that women should live an educated life free from the constraint of patriarchal institutions. The leading two patriarchal institutions at the time, the convent and marriage, were not appealing to Suchon because they lacked freedom for women. Suchon believed that both marriage and the convent implemented a dependency on others and denied fulfillment of independence. Suchon, herself, spent several years in a convent following her father’s death until she was allowed to leave. Historians still question why Suchon went to the convent, for women who were sent to the convent were often forced to go because their family could not support them or because they refused to marry. Since Suchon came from a relatively wealthy, land-owning family, it was probably the later. Following her time in the convent, Suchon never married, which was uncommon for women to do at the time. Societal viewpoints of women claimed that women were inferior to men, had less intelligence, and required guidance and control from their husbands or fathers. Once women married, their wealth went to their husband’s family, and husbands could treat them as they pleased. Similarly, if women joined a convent, their wealth went to the Church.
Both marriage and the convent were often not up to the woman’s choice or will. In addition, women, especially non-aristocratic women, did not have many educational opportunities. In response to societal pressures for women and her time in the convent, Suchon emphasized in “On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen” that it is best to live a life that one completely chose for themselves. A celibate life is one where women have individuality and free choice. She envisions female rights and equality as being able to be educated and have little social constraints and to be free of institutions that limited one’s rights was better than marriage or the convent. Suchon describes “the celibate life” as one where women have choice over their lives. She uses the term “neutralist” to describe someone who lives according to their own free will. She praised celibacy for being a life without commitments and full of potential. She explains that any women can be a neutralist, whether they are a wealthy aristocrat or poor. Neutralism allows women to focus on friendships and intellect. Suchon views celibacy as a way for women to be free from institutions where they do not benefit, have independence, and gain freedom that they would not have otherwise. Suchon demonstrated being a “neutralist” as she fled the convent, did not marry, and spent her life teaching and learning. It is important to mention that Suchon believed women can be neutralists and join a convent, or be a neutralist and be married, as long as entry into a convent or marriage is done by choice. If women have freedom to choose, they are joining a convent or marriage by their own free will and freedom of choice.
Suchon argued that human nature is based on free choice, or free control over one’s life and choices. Suchon believed that the dependency of others and institutions deprive women of free choice, and therefore their God given nature. She argued against common societal viewpoints that male and female natures are different by arguing that men and women are equal by nature because nature itself is not determined by gender. Suchon compares constraining a women’s nature to constraining physical nature: “All things in nature know no more deadly effects than when they are constrained… when wind is confined in a subterranean place … it causes strange disturbances and inflicts severe convulsions on earth… the agitation that constraint produces in the human mind is incomparably more malignant and dangerous than wind” (“On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen”). Suchon claimed that societal pressures for women to conform to social norms are incorrect. Society saw unmarried women as useless and less favorable than married women. However, women who exhibit free choice are doing what is favored by nature. Women who have free choice over their lives also benefit their communities by exercising their full character. For example, women who chose to volunteer, educate children, care for the elderly, etc., help their community and therefore have purpose just as valuable to society as married women. Philosophical researcher Rachel Paine describes Suchon as an existentialist because she questioned the reasoning behind human existence and what human nature is. According to Suchon, “our nature is one of freedom, with constraints upon it coming from the institutions and definitions that encourage us to behave in inauthentic ways” (Paine).
In another famous work by Suchon, the “Treatise on Ethics and Politics, Divided into Three Parts”, Suchon names freedom, knowledge, and authority as the three conditions needed for life among others. Freedom has three parts: freedom of the mind, freedom of the heart and freedom of conscience. Freedom of the mind is our rational nature, freedom of the heart is the ability to feel emotion, and freedom of conscience refers to the freedom of intellect or education. Suchon argues that each freedom is given and applies to every individual, even if one’s life is not ideal. Knowledge is necessary for people to have freedom, as Suchon describes “Since all the evils committed in the world originate from ignorance… ignorance engenders dimness, weakness, dissoluteness and corruption of the principal parts of a rational being” (“Treatise on Ethics and Politics, Divided into Three Parts”). Authority refers to women having equal power to men. In this work, Suchon encourages women to not believe that they are inferior to men. She counters this idea by saying that women have equal capacity for knowledge and encourages women to seek education to fight gender inequality. Suchon asserts that women are equal to men in intellect, and that social constructs aimed to keep women from getting an education are in place to try to keep women as inferior beings. Women are denied authority, liberty, and education which keeps them from having their God given nature. Suchon argues that God gave power to both men and women, so women’s inferiority to men goes against God’s will.
Glossary:
- “Neutralist”: someone who lives according to their own free will.
- “Celibate Life”: life where women have free choice over what they do.
Works Cited:
Paine, R., 2022. Gabrielle Suchon: a snapshot – The Philosophers’ Magazine Archive. [online] The Philosophers’ Magazine Archive. Available at: <https://archive.philosophersmag.com/gabrielle-suchon-a-snapshot/> [Accessed 13 October 2022].
Suchon, Gabrielle. On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen; or, Life without Commitments (1700)
Suchon, Gabrielle. Treatise on Ethics and Politics (1693)