The French Revolution of 1789 was a time of change for many people of France. In particular, the women of the revolutionary period participated in diverse activities such as protesting high food prices, or joining women's societies and clubs. They were dependent on the men in their lives because they were passive citizens in that they did not own proper and therefore did not have a voice in private or public affairs. Harsh economic conditions brought about by high taxes and bad harvests resulted in a multitude of suffering for the revolutionary women. The women of the French Revolution agreed with the basic universal goals of the French Revolution in that they, along with fellow Frenchmen, sought to achieve equal rights and a democratic society, but the revolutionary leaders continually crushed any attempts made by women of being able to attain their goals.

The economic conditions of the revolutionary years helped fuel the women of the French Revolution to speak out about their living status. For example, bad harvests brought about food shortages and hence high prices. So, in order to protect and feed their children, women participated in bread riots. As grain prices increased, women would gather and march to the local baker to demand a fair price for bread. If they did not receive a fair price they would threaten to riot. This was considered an issue of the moral economy, and therefore part of a woman's responsibility. Her purpose was to take care of her family, and therefore she was justified in creating the Bread Riots. All over France, the food riots turned into small revolutions showing how common people, including both men and women, became directly involved in the revolution.

Increased taxes contributed to creating greater hardships on the women of the French Revolution. The high taxes brought about by King Louis XVI's mounting deficit were a result of French support of the Americans against the British in the American War of Independence. The heightened demand on their families increased the strain their families were already experiencing as a result of the food shortages. The suffering the women were going though ignited them to aggressively become involved in the revolution as a means to change their living conditions.

The women of the Third Estate wanted to be able to seek opportunities to improve their lives and their sense of self worth. To achieve this, they tried to take their requests directly to the king. The women of the Third Estate requested a better education, to have work so they would be able to live independently, and to be given the opportunity to be able to better educate their children. In exchange for granting their requests, they claimed they would teach their children to "cherish the beautiful name of Frenchmen (and) transmit to them the love we have for Your Majesty" (Rogers, pg.75). The women of the Third Estate would have been satisfied with these modest requests. They saw them as reasonable and therefore did not feel it was necessary to seek further participation in the political affairs of the country. The King appeared to be genuinely concerned about what they wanted, but unfortunately, he was unresponsive to their requests. As a result, dissension erupted between the women of the Third Estate and the king. Not all women were willing to be content with the meek improvements in living conditions that the women of the Third Estate sought.

Many women sought increased political participation in the organization of a new constitution. Some of the women tried to participate by writing petitions, publishing tracts, and organizing political clubs. One particular woman, Olympe de Gouges, argued in her "Declaration of Rights of Women" that men and women are both born free and therefore both should live equal in their rights. She proclaimed that if "women have the right to mount a scaffold she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum" (Hunt, pg. 689). She felt that there was a need for social and political reform in which women have equal rights to property and public office and therefore equal responsibilities in taxes and the punishment of criminals. Britain's Mary Wollstonecraft argued in "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" that "Women could not be virtuous even as mothers, unless they won the right to participate in economic and political life on an equal basis as men" (Wollstonecraft, pg. 66). Writings like that of Mary Wollstonecraft seemed to have been in vain because the leaders of the French Revolution were resistant to giving any kind of social and/or political equality to the women of the French Revolution.

Any kind of momentum that women achieved in their struggle for equal rights was met with opposition from the political leaders of France. The men of the Third Estate felt that women had no stake in the economy since the husbands had control of any property held in common and therefore felt that women should not participate in government affairs. They felt that women should concentrate on domestic activities and reinforcing family virtues, thereby leaving public decisions to men. The prerevolutionary writer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau expressed his feelings about the education of women by writing "The whole education of women ought to be relative to men. To please them, to be useful to them, to make themselves loved and honored by them, to educate them when young, to care for them when grown, to council them, to console them, and to make life agreeable and sweet to them-these are the duties of women at all times, and what should be taught them from their infancy"(Rousseau, pg. 65). 

When they came to power in 1792, the Jacobins went so far as to say that "women are ill-suited for elevated thoughts and serious mediations and they shouldn't leave their family to meddle in the affairs of government" (Rogers, pg. 94). When the Jacobins set up the Committee of Public Safety they sought to suppress women's clubs. The Jacobins severely limited women's participation in public life because "they associated it with social disorder and social upheaval" (Hunt, pg. 699). The men of the French Revolution appeared to honestly believe they were the stronger and smarter sex and they limited women's participation in political life because they felt they were protecting their family life and the integrity and virtues of the French people.

Women of the French Revolution had little choice in their social and political
roles. Their lack of education and the sustained male dominance regarding decisions made about every aspect of their lives would be difficult to change. Even after the French Revolution, women had little hope of economic independence. Their roles in life were based on their obligation to domestic virtues (taking care of their families). Books offering advice to women about issues concerning cooking, cleaning, and maintaining household activities were being written as opposed to books concerning advice on how to achieve a better education and extended political and social rights. Overall, the roles of women did not change significantly over the course of the French Revolution. The immediate impact of what the revolutionary women went through was small, but their fight for independence was the beginning of what would be a long, continuous struggle for equal rights.