Primary sourceDocumentbefore September 1792

Réclamation des Femmes

before September 1792

A printed 1792 poster demanding women's rights and freedom from marital despotism, tentatively attributed to Gouges.

This poster's demands echo Gouges's own feminist writings, though her authorship of it remains unconfirmed.

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Scan of a printed French poster titled 'Reclamation des Femmes' (Women's Reclamation) with decorative borders. Below the title is a subtitle and a long paragraph of body text ending with 'la Liberte, ou la Mort' (liberty or death) in large capitals. — Réclamation des Femmes, printed poster, before September 1792. Authorship uncertain, possibly Olympe de Gouges.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed poster titled Réclamation des Femmes (Women's Reclamation), dated before September 1792. Its author is unknown, though it has sometimes been tentatively attributed to Olympe de Gouges. The text protests the "marital despotism" faced by wives and mothers and calls on lawmakers to grant women justice and equality, ending with the dramatic phrase "liberty or death."

Why it matters

Whether or not Gouges wrote it, this poster reflects the kind of revolutionary-era arguments for women's rights that she herself made, including in her famous Declaration of the Rights of Woman. It shows how women during the French Revolution used public print to demand legal recognition and equal treatment.

Look closer

What specific complaints does the text raise about women's legal status?
Why might the authorship of this poster be uncertain?
How does its language compare to other revolutionary demands for liberty?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Olympe de Gouges on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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