The Superiority of Women in the Seventeenth Century

Deslauriers, Marguerite

doi:10.1017/apa.2019.24

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…With the rise of the salons, assumptions about sexual difference that had previously been used to ground claims of superiority started supporting claims of gender 11 It should also be noted that these arguments for the superiority of women, while often sharing core features and partaking in a common genre, are also quite different from one another. Deslauriers (2022) makes an informative comparison between Lucrezia Marinella and Marguerite Buffet's arguments for the superiority of women and helpfully draws attention to the differences between the two accounts-in particular to the different conceptions of reason they involve. 12 Green compares these two feminist strategies by using the examples of Marie de Gournay and Madeleine de Scudéry's arguments.…”

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“Nature and Society Give Women a Great Habit of Suffering”: Germaine de Staël's Feminism and Its Challenges

Sabourin¹

2023

The Southern J of Philosophy

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Germaine de Staël (1766-1817, despite having published a considerable body of work, is seldom regarded as a feminist philosopher. Unlike, for instance, Mary Wollstonecraft of the same period, Staël is not directly arguing for the equality of the sexes. She even, at times, makes surprisingly derogatory remarks about women's nature. I argue that she is nevertheless putting forward a brand of difference feminism, which deserves our attention as a contribution to feminist reflections on gender norms in the early modern era. Staël's contribution takes the form of a plea for the improvement of women's lives that engages with the combined action of nature and society. I clarify the meaning that we should ascribe to Staël's frequent appeals to nature and argue that, for her, society and education should be used to correct (alleged) natural weaknesses instead of reinforcing them. I also give an overview of Staël's political proposals toward the improvement of women's lives, which call for a better form of political regime than the one she lived in, as well as a better access to education and a more egalitarian conception of marriage.Germaine de Staël's contribution to French literature is relatively well known today in francophone countries. One can think, for instance, of her novels Delphine and Corinne, or Italy. She is, however, much less known for her philosophical works and ideas, despite having published critical reflections on Rousseau's complete works; a treatise developing an original Charlotte Sabourin is a faculty member at Douglas College. Her research engages with feminist questions in early modern philosophy, with a special focus on Immanuel Kant's work and his immediate reception. She is the author of "Kant's Enlightenment and Women's Peculiar Immaturity" (Kantian Review, 2021), "Theodor von Hippel on the Status of Women in Germany" (in Women and Philosophy in Eighteenth-Century Germany, Oxford University Press, 2021), and "Critical Perspectives on Religion" (in The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy, Routledge, forthcoming).

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“Nature and Society Give Women a Great Habit of Suffering”: Germaine de Staël's Feminism and Its Challenges

Sabourin¹

2023

The Southern J of Philosophy

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Lucrezia Marinella

Deslauriers

2024

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Lucrezia Marinella's (1571–1653) most important contributions to philosophy were two polemical treatises: The Nobility and excellence of Women, and the Defects and Vices of Men, and the Exhortations to Women and to Others if They Please. Marinella argues for the superiority of women over men in every respect: psychologically, physiologically, morally, and intellectually. She is particularly effective in using the resources of ancient philosophy to support her various arguments, in which she draws conclusions about the souls and the bodies of women, the nature and significance of women's beauty, the virtue of women and the liberty to which women as well as men are entitled. This Element showcases that her claim of superiority is intended ultimately to justify the possibility of political rule by women.

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The Superiority of Women in the Seventeenth Century

Cited by 2 publications

References 22 publications

“Nature and Society Give Women a Great Habit of Suffering”: Germaine de Staël's Feminism and Its Challenges

“Nature and Society Give Women a Great Habit of Suffering”: Germaine de Staël's Feminism and Its Challenges

Lucrezia Marinella

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