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STUDENT: ROBSON PEDROSA COSTA

COURSE UNIT: GENDER AND HISTORY

TEACHER: ANA MARIA RODRIGUES

PAPER 2

Kelly, Joan. Early Feminist Theory and the “Querelle des Femmes”, 1400-1789. signs,

vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn, 1982), pp. 4-28. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173479

Joan Kelly goes back in time and introduces the reader to the first feminist theorists

before the 18th century, highlighting the main debates around the

which he called “querelles des Femmes”. The forerunner of this “movement” was the French

Christine de Pisan (1364-1430?), considered by the country's feminists as the first

feminist in a period much earlier than the first wave that started in the 19th century (p.04-

05).

As a reaction to classical philosophical writings and the growth of writings

vulgar and clerical in the late Middle Ages that contained misogynistic ideas, various

writers sought to respond to attacks against women and at the same time

time to rebuild a positive and empowered female image. The “querelle des femmes”

was the main debate that preceded the French Revolution, a period that marks a

new phase of western feminist thought.

It is important to highlight that for a long time men figured as

main thinkers on behalf of women, given the small number of female thinkers

representing the movement at its inception. Women appear isolated in the

French and English literature of the modern era, “separate from each other”, in addition to the

“long periods of silence and inactivity”. The author's proposal is to contribute to

bridge this gap over a long period between early feminist ideas and their

consolidation in the 19th century. According to Kelly, “the solid and general history of feminism

focuses on women coming 'to the revolution'; therefore, do not dwell on

early feminist thought that preceded the revolutionary tradition” (p.05).

Until the 18th century, the debates promoted by the “querelle” remained

quite popular. But with the transformations and new concerns arising in the Era

of the Revolutions, a new radical content was imposed, bringing new perspectives. To the

Feminists then came to feel part of the French Revolution itself and its
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speech of hope in the future. Themes dear to the movement were affected by

ideas such as progress and social change. The movement then sought to unite theory and

practice (p.06).

Meanwhile, the “querelle” feminists stayed away from the action,

insisting on a “long and patient intellectual resistance”. they were more

concerned with conscience and interested in “neutralizing the consequences

psychological consequences of what they saw as a recent and steady decline in the position of

women". According to the author, this posture helped in the creation of a new body of

ideas, which can be considered the first feminist theory, with a conceptual view

original.

As the author demonstrates throughout her text, the positions defended by

these early feminists were almost all controversial for their time. well before the

19th century thought, they already defended what we call “gender” today.

Considering the context in which they wrote, their ideas can undoubtedly be

considered innovative and daring. His writings already stated, for example, “that the

sexes” were “culturally and not just biologically formed”. Your ideas

fought quite common notions in that context, whose misogynistic thinking was

supported the idea that women were a “defective sex” (p.07).

The political, social and economic transformations of the Modern Age were the

background of early feminist theory. The new pressures demanded new

positions of women in a hierarchical world increasingly controlled by

a centralized and bourgeois government. However, it is important to highlight that these

The first theorists belonged to the high echelon of society. They were part of it, as were the

erudite men, to large families of businessmen or aristocrats (p.07).

Many of these early feminists inherited a humanist perspective from

inside the house itself. They were daughters, sisters or nieces of teachers responsible for

her education, like Rachel Speght (by her father) and Mary Astell (by her uncle).

By contrast, these “daughters of educated men,” in the words of Virginia Woolf,

were the forerunners of early feminist theories, subverting the teachings of

own parents and a whole society concerned with silencing women (p.08).

But the first great precursor of this “movement” was the Italian Christine de

Pisan. This writer built an independent life, challenging the limits of her

time and criticism of his work. From 1399 onwards, his various writings criticized the

Misogyny in an original way. He questioned the “slander” hurled at all men

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against women and the guilt they were forced to carry (p.09-10). Your
reaction, and that of its subsequent ones, was directly linked to the growth of a
literature increasingly hostile to women. In the transition from the Middle Ages to the
modernity, new misogynistic contours took shape, in the midst of criticism against
to medieval values. Mockery and satire gained popular taste in the 19th century.
XIII, where women and chivalrous love were targets of attacks. as a reaction to
this attack on medieval courtesy, at the end of the century Christine wrote a set of
letters and poems that aimed to react to this traditional view of women, provoking
a small “querelle de la rose”, as this intervention became known (p.10)
Due to the boldness of her ideas, the author was reprimanded and her “reputation
questioned”. His reaction was to defend himself and intensify his criticisms against the
literate about the inferiority of women”. His writing already evidenced an “intention
theoretical.” In her writings, Christine aimed to combat misogynistic views held by
clerics who left their pessimistic impressions not only against marriage, but
against women and the female body. Refute misogyny and bourgeois satire and
respond to insults proffered against women were recurrent themes in his
thought. According to Kelly, “Christine created a space for women to oppose
this onslaught of slander and contempt, and the example of their defense would serve them
for centuries” (p.10-11). It is true that many men wrote in defense of
women. But the novelty in Christine's writings lay in the possibility of offering
to women ways for them to take ownership of this fight.
To better understand the construction of Christine's combative thinking,
Joan Kelly discusses some ideas defended by classic authors about women.
Overall, views that have strong misogynistic content and many of them persistently
associated the feminine with evil. According to Kelly, “unlike the humanist man, in the
However, Christine could not turn to classical learning to guide her toward
his new intellectual position. She had to oppose what seemed and still seems to be the
scholars' overwhelming authority over female inferiority” (p.13).
As expected, Christine's intellectual background was based on
reading of philosophers, poets and other “men of letters” who expressed, almost
unanimously, his disdain for women. The strength of all this intellectual expression
led Christine to reflect not only on the experience of women, but on herself and
her status as a woman. The philosopher herself states that she began to examine the life of
different women: mainly princesses and great ladies. “All of which
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freely shared their private and frank thoughts so that I could

to know by my judgment...if it were true what so many men...witnessed.”
All this “awareness effort” led her to reflect on the influence of

“others” in their background, by relying on the judgment of others, rather than following what
felt or knew about herself. From her contact with the different experiences to her
exposed, she began to reflect on everything she had read about women,
portrayed as “abominable”, “receptacle of all evil” and “of all vices” (p.13-
14).
She then goes on to question the content of those writings that helped to shape
the misogynistic image of women, based much more on male projections than
me objective descriptions about the feminine. Other feminists from the querelle, not yet
sixteenth century, decided to respond to the provocations contained in satires, pamphlets by
“indecent”/“obscene” content and other writing that disparaged women.
Some preferred to protect themselves by using pseudonyms. Some of these women already
in that century advocated equality between the sexes, while others disagreed,
asserting the superiority of women over men. These feminist thinkers
from the 15th to the 18th centuries did not spare criticism of the entire erudite tradition, laden with

disdain, misogyny and satire/irony against women.

But the main aim of these early feminists was not simply to attack
men, but rather, a whole “misogynist bias in literate culture”. they soon
understood that the arguments raised by philosophers who sought to defend the
female inferiority and its defects was actually a way of “maintaining

supremacy of men”. Men would be envious beings and would not allow
great deeds of women were reported. The greatest proof was in the fact that the
women to be excluded “from learning, government, and public office.” (p.20).
So they embraced the task of “recovering a true image of women, a
image that could be safely internalized to mobilize the powers
feminine (p.21).
These early feminists sought to reject “the distorted image of female
presented to them as the word of God and the wisdom of man.” they put themselves
as defenders of women and, as such, needed to break “with prejudice and
limits of male learning, initiating the first attempts at 'studies
feminists'”. Several writings sought to reorganize the knowledge of women and men
men from a “feminist point of view”. A clear “rewrite of history” movement.
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Part of the defenses produced were aimed at countering the insults, disdain and satire against the

women (p.21).

An argument always present in the attacks was that of defective rationality

of the women. With that, it was justified to exclude them from culture, government and even

of self-government. What they wanted then was to prove “the true nature of the woman

with power and reason” (p.21). The consolidation of Nation States maintained the exclusion

of women in public life. The military, financial and legal powers formerly under the

feudal power then passed into the “public” domain, under state control by men.

In this context, “the masculine conception of feminine behavior assumed its

more modern way”. According to Kelly, “State legislation of the 15th and 16th centuries

strengthened the family as an instrument of social control”. Over time, the authority

about the family was being restricted and women became totally subject

to patriarchal power and the state in formation. Based on the ancient philosophers, the new

state and bourgeois society in formation appealed to the “natural” subjection of

women as a result of their inferiority and defective rationality.

As part of their defenses and counterattack to the arguments of the men of

letters, querelle feminists sought to rescue the history of women who

actively participated in history, as warriors, rulers and heroines. The idea

was to demonstrate with real examples that women, in different historical contexts,

participated directly in the exercise of power. “The historical memory of women

armed forces and the female government persisted in the defenses of the querelle, along with the

commemorating women of learning,” Joan Kelly tells us. However, this search

by examples to strengthen their arguments was based on “illustrious” women and

ancient medieval sources, with the aim of demonstrating female capabilities.

It is important to highlight that “many of the first feminists knew themselves

personally,” wrote “dedications to each other’s books” and celebrated

the achievements of their peers. However, due to their social position, these first
feminists were distant from the reality of women from lower social strata.

Therefore, “their struggle was not incorporated into a political movement. Limited to one

battle of pens”, says Kelly. “But in this battle they exposed the male bias

of learning and its misogynistic intent to keep women subject to men”.

However, despite not being interested in the action, “the opposition of feminism

initial approach to masculine ideology has remained central to feminist thought

subsequent development, as well as the creation of appropriate and empowering images of

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women". Advocacy for “impartial learning” and women’s right to use

its free-form learning originated in the writings of these early theorists
feminists, who fought against the “cultural and social colonization of women by
men".