writes Francois Poulain de la Barre in 1673, throwing his philosophical hat into the ring of the already centuries-long debate in Europe over the nature and status of women. The Querelle des Femmes, as the debate is known, spanned the Renaissance and provides “a record of both proto-feminist and misogynist views of women’s nature.” (Schmitter, 5) Over the course of three years and three publications during this period, Poulain produced a body of work which deftly argues that the sexes are equal.
His declaration of the sexless mind, found in Poulain’s 1673 treatise On The Equality of the Sexes, was not the first of its kind. It echoes prior claims put forth by Augustine and Marie de Gournay. However, Poulain provides a unique argument drawing on Cartesian methodology and interrogating the historical origins and validity of widely held misogynistic prejudices held by both women and men.
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"The mind has no sex,"
"We are prejudiced about nearly everything that exists and most of all about ourselves"
Poulain begins his argument for equality with a discussion of prejudice. He claims that prejudice is extremely widespread and explains firmly held yet erroneous views. The shrinking of the shore from the perspective of someone on a seaward boat, the apparent movement of the sun around the Earth, and the supposed superiority of one’s own religion are examples that Poulain provides to argue that men are prone to make judgments about their perceptions without close examination. Not only is prejudice common; it is extremely hard to unlearn. In Poulain’s words, “It is incomparably more difficult to talk men out of the opinions they hold through prejudice than those they have embraced through the strength and conviction of reason” (Three Cartesian, 53). Stasimachus, Poulain’s protagonist in On the Education of Ladies, expresses the writer’s concerns
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saying, "we are prejudiced about nearly everything that exists, and most of all about ourselves” (Three Cartesian, 212). Before narrowing the focus of his work to discredit arguments against women’s equality, Poulain successfully makes these general claims about the pervasiveness of prejudice.
The Cartesian influence in Poulain’s analysis is hard to miss. Descartes’ vocabulary of clarity and distinctness is directly invoked when Poulain expresses the principle of the rule of truth: “accept nothing as true unless it is supported by clear and distinct ideas” (50). In true Cartesian fashion, Poulain instructs those considering whether the sexes are equal to “study the question seriously and objectively and reject everything we have accepted from second-hand information without examining it further” (Three Cartesian, 53). Upon doing so, one will find that beliefs about women’s inferiority can be reduced to “mere popular hearsay” (Three Cartesian, 50).
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Poulain looks to history to explain modern prejudice. He imagines a primitive world (most likely influenced by Hobbes’ state of nature) where patriarchy emerged causing women to become excluded from many occupations and to receive abysmal education. In his third feminist treatise, On the Excellence of Men, Poulain calls this period the “golden age of liberty” which gave way to the “iron age of servitude” when men took advantage of their strength to dominate others (Three Cartesian, 313). Importantly, Poulain considers the power relation that he observes to be completely arbitrary. For him, patriarchy itself gives reason to doubt men’s superiority:
“On what grounds then, can we be sure that women are less than ourselves, since it is not chance but an insurmountable impediment that makes it impossible for them to play their proper role in society? I am not for one moment saying that all women are gifted for learning or for higher office, nor that every single one is good at everything; nobody claims that for men, either. My only point is to insist that as far as the two sexes are concerned, there is as much aptitude in one as in the other.” (Three Cartesian, 61)
He notes that even a few cases are sufficient to show women are not inherently incapable of greatness. In fact, large portions of Poulain’s work is dedicated to enumerating the equal or
"As far as the two sexes are concerned, there is as much aptitude in one as in the other"
superior abilities of women compared to men. From dexterity as children to eloquent methods of communication to moral virtuosity, Poulain repeatedly makes broad generalizations about women’s abilities to show that there is nothing in their nature preventing them.
Poulain points to a variety of sources in history from which people draw their ill-conceived conclusions about the inferiority of women, discrediting them all. Neither poets nor scripture nor lawyers nor philosophers, Poulain asserts, can be trusted in their arguments against the equality of the sexes. He rejects the principle of authority, accusing old texts of hiding behind the “guise of a venerable elder” (Three Cartesian, 76). The popularity of a belief is not evidence for the truth of that belief. In the words of Poulain (famously quoted by 20th century feminst Simone de Beauvoir),
“Women were judged in former times as they are today and with as little reason, so whatever men say about them should be suspect as they are both judges and defendants. Even if the charges brought against them are backed by the opinions of a thousand authors, the entire brief should be taken as a chronicle of prejudice and error.” (Three Cartesian, 76).
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Poulain also argues for equality on the basis of the metaphysical similarity of the sexes. Bodies of different sexes are similar in all aspects that relate to how they might impact minds. In other words, the perceptive organs like eyes and ears are shared by women and men. All people also share the will which can either assent to or dissociate from perceptions, so women have all the same faculties as men to avoid error and come to true knowledge.
On the basis of his arguments about equal ability and natural equality, Poulain makes normative arguments demanding equal opportunity. “Men and women,” he says, “have an equal right to truth since the minds of both are able to apprehend it” (Three Cartesian, 91). Poulain aims to encourage and inspire women to become well-educated by framing education as the means to actualize the human right to happiness.