In this paper, I am going to examine the most fundamental argument that Francois Poullain de la Barre states which is the inequality between the two sexes is a false belief. From my perspective, this argument is important because this argument sets the foundation of his defense for equality between the two sexes. This part of argumentation is special because the way he organizes the statement followed the Cartesian method. Moreover, as one of the pioneers who claim against the inequality between two genders was a brave and risky act.
Before analyzing the argument, it is helpful to give an overview of what society’s belief at that time was like. Francois Poullain de la Barre published three treatises each year consecutively starting in 1673. In the seventeenth century, The Woman Question was a hot debate, in which the topics include the nature of women, their capabilities, and whether women should be permitted to study. The popular idea at that time was that women were inferior to men because women are physically weak. Moreover, women at that time were not permitted intellectual pursuits. One popular reason given for this theory is that women do not possess the intelligence to study academics, and therefore, they do not deserve to take roles in public jobs such as in sciences. Les Femmes Savantes (Moliere, 1672) was a comedy by Moliere. The comedy describes a story where two young people wanted to get married but they need to overcome the obstacles from the woman’s family. The female protagonist’s family is controlled by her mother and her mother, sister and aunts are educated women. They hope the female protagonist could marry another man who seems to be more scholarly. Moliere’s comedy is sarcastic in the way he criticizes those “educated” women who transgressed their domestic responsibility. However, Francois Poullain’s belief was different from the popular belief at that time. Being deeply influenced by Descartes, Poulain believes the “supremacy of mind over body” was fundamentally incorrect. Be believes the “mind has no sex” and thus, discrimination based on different sexes should not be an accepted truth, just as what society assumed. Society thought women possess a weaker mind since they are physically weak. However, since Poulain followed the Cartesian idea that mind and body are distinct, this correlation does not make any sense.
At the beginning of the argument, Poullain claims that to evaluate the question of whether women are inferior to men, we should use the “rule of truth”. Poullain defined this method as “to accept nothing as true unless it is supported by clear and distinct ideas” (Poullain, 39). As we recalled, Descartes started his meditation with a similar method that unless we are sure about the truth of a fact, we should not take that fact as true. Poullain then goes on to argue that people’s belief in women’s inferiority and the lack of capacity in scholarly matters are solely based on historical prejudices rather than the difference between natures. The repression of women started when women are pregnant, they were forced to stay out of work because they needed rest to give birth to children. After that they needed to take care of the baby and “naturally”, women became responsible for the household while the men became responsible for working. It seemed to be a common phenomenon in various countries at that time. People became used to it and took it for granted. Poullain describes this custom as “if something is well established, then we think it must be right” (Poullain, 54). However, since there is no evidence to prove this custom to be correct, this prejudice is in serious doubt. Furthermore, Poullain goes on to argue that nature is a non-explanatory concept but there are some qualities that women are superior to men such as women are more aware of the art of speaking so that women can express an idea more properly; women understand eloquence better than men do; they understand the law and its practice better than the men do. Poullain claims that if women are given proper education, they can be as successful as men in the workplace such as in legal fields. Therefore, the prejudice that women should not be properly educated due to their incapability of learning is incorrect.
In conclusion, even though the examples provided above are not convincing since it is a generalization with no strong evidence, Poullain proved that gender inequality is false since it does not satisfy the rule of truth.
Bibliography
de La Barre, François Poulain. The Equality of the Two Sexes. E. Mellen Press, 1989.
Moliere. Les Femmes Savantes, 1672.
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