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The Enlightenment came to advance ideals of liberty, progress, and tolerance. For those women who were able to discuss and advance new ideals, discourse on religion, political and social equality, and sexuality became prominent topics in the salons, debating societies, and in print. While women in England and France gained significantly more freedom than their counterparts in other countries, the role of women in the Enlightenment was reserved for those of middle and upper class families, able to access money to join societies and the education to participate in debate. Therefore the women in the Enlightenment only represented a small class of society and not the entire female sex.

Significant people and publications
The role of women in society became a topic of discussion during the Enlightenment. Influential philosophers and thinkers such as John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, Nicolas de Condorcet, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau debated matters of gender equality. Prior to the Enlightenment, women were not considered of equal status to men. Rousseau believed that women were subordinate to men and women should obey men. Challenging the popular inequality, Locke believed that the notion that men are superior to women was created by man. Condorcet also challenged the existing gender inequality by advocating for female political equality. Authors cited Queen Elizabeth, Empress Catherine of Russia, and Queen Maria Theresa of Austria as powerful women who were capable of intellect.

Prolific Enlightenment women philosophers and historians included Mary Wollstonecraft, Olympe de Gouges, Catherine Macaulay, Mary Astell, Mary Chudleigh, and Louise d’Epinay. Macaulay’s influential The Letters on Education (1790) advocated for the education of women. Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) used similar arguments, stating that women ought to have education commensurate to their position in society. Women's access to education gave rise to the potential to hasten the progress of society. De Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791) as a testament to the political inequality of women and to challenge male authority in society.

Salons
In the 18th century, under the guidance of Madame Geoffrin, Mademoiselle de Lespinasse, and Madame Necker, the salon was transformed from a venue of leisure to a place of enlightenment. In the salon, there was no class or education barrier to prevent attendees from participating in open discussion. Throughout the 18th century the salon served as a matrix for Enlightenment ideals. Women were important in this capacity because they took on the role of salonnieres.

Debating Societies
Debating societies, which prior to the Enlightenment were exclusively male, gained popularity in London in the 1750s. Women in England entered the conversation on Enlightenment ideals by joining the debating societies. Anyone who paid an admission fee would be able to enter and speak. Financial status was a barrier to some in the lower classes, but admission of women into debating societies opened up political and social discourse to a larger portion of society. The societies were the only outlet for lower and middle class individuals to express unorthodox views of the time. The women's only debating societies brought to public notice the burgeoning demand for equal education, equal political rights, and the protection of women's occupations. Women's attendance at debating societies was seen as an incursion on male space and drew considerable criticism. This criticism was a driver for the creation of women's only debating societies.

Print
Print culture became far more accessible to women in the 18th century. Through the production of cheap editions and through the expanding amount of books targeted toward a female readership, women were more able to access education. Prior to the 18th century, many women gained knowledge from correspondence with males because books were not as accessible to them. Social circles emerged around printed books. While the reading habits of men revolved around silent study, women used reading as a social activity. Reading books in intimate gatherings became a mode that fostered discourse among women.