I’m gathering material for a fairly major foray into the works of 19th century French feminists, including completing the translations of some of the responses to Proudhon. But every major foray has to start with some exploratory expeditions, and I’ve gathered up a first selection of work by Jeanne Deroin and Andre Leo to plug the project at the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair this weekend. Most of the material has appeared on this blog before, but this is the first time I’ve collected the various pieces. Read and distribute. Print and sell if you like.
The Sex Question
Jeanne Deroin, “Prospectus” of l’Opinion des Femmes (1848)
L’OPINION DES FEMMES Prospectus The women who understand the greatness of their mission, in the present and in the future, feel deeply that it is for them not only a right, but a duty, to […]
Black and Red Feminism
Jenny d’Hericourt vs. the Double Standard
[Proudhon took a beating when he challenged her. What chance would a mere abstract inconsistency have against the power of Jenny P. d’Hericourt? This is enough fun to merit a full cross-post from Black and […]
Black and Red Feminism
Jenny d’Héricourt’s “Appeal to Women” and “Profession of Faith”
I’ve been working on an anthology of Jenny P. d’Héricourt’s works, combining her two-volume Woman Affranchised with an assortment of other works of feminist philosophy. d’Héricourt was, of course, one of Proudhon’s opponents on the […]
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That looks very interesting. Thanks! I like this quote as regards Proudhon’s sexism. It was made by André Léo in 1869:
“These so-called lovers of liberty, if they are unable to take part in the direction of the state, at least they will be able to have a little monarchy for their personal use, each in his own home… Order in the family without hierarchy seems impossible to them – well then, what about in the state?” (quoted in Carolyn J. Eichner, “‘Vive La Commune!’ Feminism, Socialism, and Revolutionary Revival in the Aftermath of the 1871 Paris Commune”, Journal of Women’s History 15: 2 (2003): 75)
She was an anarcha-feminist and future Communard and summed up the contradiction extremely well!
Iain
An Anarchist FAQ
I’ve written quite a bit more about André Léo in my book, Surmounting the Barricades: Women in the Paris Commune (Indiana University Press, 2004).