Olympe de Gouges

The "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen" by Olympe de Gouges challenges the inequality in our world between men and women. She is a strident advocate for female rights, the right of divorce and a member of the Society of the Friends of Truth which is an association with the goal of equal political and legal rights for women. Her "Contrat Social" - "Social Contract" - proposes marriage based upon gender equality. Where there is injustice in France or the colonies, you will find Olympe de Gouges. She is anti-slavery and have written several plays - for example "Zamore and Mirza" and "Le Marché des Noirs" or "The Black Market" - and articles such as "Réflexions sur les hommes nègres" - or "Reflections on the negroes" to plead the cause of the slaves. A statement from her about women's rights has been spreading lately, she states that, "A woman has the right to mount the scaffold. She must possess equally the right to mount the speaker's platform.".