Reframing Communication Rights: Why Gender Matters

Abstract

In 1791, Olympe de Gouges published her Declaration of theRights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. In it she rewrote each of the 17 articles of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen — a key text of the French Revolution. Point by point, she reformulated the original declaration, highlighting male bias in its conception of ‘the citizen’ and accusing it of ‘scorn for the rights of women.’ De Gouges understood the power of language and communication. Her version of Article 11, on freedom of expression, is radical.¹ Under this right, she subsumes a woman’s right to challenge societal norms of silence imposed on unmarried mothers, and a women’s entitlement to demand responsible fatherhood. In making this apparently unlikely connection, de Gouges makes three fundamental points about CRs. First, she asks that we consider how certain ideas and opinions are used to deny women’s rights. Second, she reminds us that, in a society where women do not enjoy the same economic and political rights as men, the concept of freedom of expression has no intrinsic meaning. Third, she suggests that women’s priorities, in exercising their right to free speech, may be different from those of men. The specificity of de Gouges’ formulation of Article 11 calls into question the presumed universality of man, as conceived in the original declaration. It implies the need to rethink the entire basis of human and CRs.