The very first time women began to ban together for the same rights that men have was during the French Revolution. Everything was being questioned in France then, and for the first time, women were doing some of the questioning. Why couldn’t women vote? Why couldn’t women hold public office? Why were women expected to tend to the kids and the house all day? Unfortunately, the male leaders during that time period took it that anything pro-female had to be anti-male, and they did their best to keep the women down.When something went wrong during the French Revolution, the people in charge always tried to find a scapegoat. Many times women were used as their scapegoat. “…since the beginning of the Revolution the women, more slaves to pro-noble and religious prejudices than men, have been constantly in the hands of the priests and the enemies of the State, and are the prime movers of the troubles that have shaken the Republic.”That was an excerpt from a report made to the National Convention in 1793. The women were doing something different and it scared the men in charge. Since there were no women in the Paris Commune, there was no one to defend them, so the stories and theories on the evils of women just kept getting passed down the line. The actions of some women trying to help the cause were taken as actions against the cause. A police report filed in Paris in 1793 shows this point well. “A group of women at Les Halles complain in coarse terms about the shortage of food and necessities and announce that they cannot last much longer, that they must have provisions at the prices of 1789, and that they will impose a tax through seizure of food since the Convention has no regard for their misery.”These were just women trying to make a change, trying to make food easier to obtain, but it was seen as an illegal act that just goes to show how evil women really are. That’s why things turned out...
