User:Lightnessofbeing23/La Voix des Femmes (France, 1848)/Purplelily21 Peer Review

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Overall this is a very strong and comprehensive article! You clearly have a good understanding of the material and are able to explain the significance of this group. Your word choice and tone is clear and neutral overall, as well. One thing I think you should work on as you revise is the length, especially of the section giving the broader background. While you have explained everything well, I think this background could be a little more concise, as this will make the article more accessible for average readers trying to learn the most pertinent information about this group. Let me know if you have any questions! - Sara

Introduction[edit]
La Voix des Femmes (1848) was a French socialist feminist newspaper founded by Eugénie Niboyet in 1848. It was the first female-led paper to be published daily in France. Its first issue, published on March 19 of that year, focused on relevant women's rights issues that followed the February Revolution, such as the right to vote, work, and citizenship. Niboyet was already well versed as a translator, editor, and writer, and subsequently became the paper's director. Originally founded as a paper, the publication grew to encompass an entire organization known as the Société de la Voix des Femmes. Some of its members included Jeanne Deroin, Suzanne Voilquin, Desirée Gay, and Amélie Pray.

La Voix des Femmes became the focal point for the Women’s Movement in 1848 as the publications and the material printed highlighted the struggles of all French women. The paper focused on both domestic and international women’s rights issues, including suffrage, labor rights, education, and personal autonomy. Additionally, the magazine’s key goal was solidarity, which it achieved through various publications and foci throughout its existence, which connected women through shared experiences.

La Voix des Femmes ultimately ended in the summer of 1848 in June due to disappointments with the government. It became clear to the citizens of France that the government was unwilling to support workers and provide employment. Although the paper was founded to serve the demands of women, the atmosphere of 1848 and events following the February Revolution made publication too risky. Women writers were forced to step away from their newspaper as the government passed new repressive measures. In fact, the newspaper itself was prevented from publishing during the April and May elections in 1848. Writers and members of the society increasingly faced political persecution, and ultimately La Voix des Femmes was unable to endure past the June Days uprising.

(Is this whole section your lead section?)

French Revolution of 1848, the February Revolution[edit]
La Voix des Femmes was published three weeks after the February Revolution of 1848 as a response to the Provisional Government’s failure in upholding social promises and rights for women.

During the February Revolution, women of different ages and social backgrounds played a principal role; they were involved in the barricades and supported the Provisional Government. In the face of insurrection in Paris, Louis Philippe was forced to abdicate his throne. French women and men participated in the revolution and declared universal suffrage. The revolutionaries argued that the universal right to vote would end injustices and was a necessary right that would provide new jobs and protect citizens. Through their activism, women believed they would be granted the rights of citizenship with the new government. However, after the February Revolution concluded and the Second Republic was founded, it soon became evident that universal suffrage did not apply to women. French women were not given rights or economic opportunities, and they were still excluded from participation in the government.

Although suffrage was declared for all, the Provisional Government still wished to retain the earlier patriarchal model with familial norms of men remaining as the heads of the household. While the opportunities for men were expanded, along with their right to vote, women were not granted autonomy. Many French women were surprised by the dismissal of their rights, as they were direct participants in facilitating the Second Republic. Eugénie Niboyet, along with other French women, were genuinely shocked that women were not granted enfranchisement in the republic’s new suffrage contracts.

In the face of the disillusioned results of the revolution, women mobilized together in Paris. Led by Niboyet and other writers, women dispersed various letters, petitions, and articles across France, aiming to spread their opinions and call attention to the various issues they faced as women. Spurred by the disappointing results of the revolution, women began to launch their own campaigns focusing primarily on women's right to vote and work. French women began demanding the Provisional Government to include women as delegates and called for the formation of workshops in Paris to provide unemployed women opportunities to learn new skills and gain employment. Through the women’s constant petitions, the Provisional Government’s Commission agreed to the demands weeks later and opened a national workshop. This workshop was located in the 2nd arrondissement and was led by women who would all later intersect with La Voix des Femmes. Notable women included Eugénie Niboyet, Pauline Roland, Désirée Gay, and Jeanne Deroin.

Women also aimed to widen the definition of what constituted a French citizen, and called for women’s rights to education and divorce. Women expanded the criteria of what constitutes a French citizen, though they often faced backlash and ridicule for their writings, arguments, and their participation in public debates. This, however, was beneficial as it shone a light on the discussion of women’s issues in France.

One significant result of the February Revolution was the Second Republic’s removal of earlier censorship rules. In both March and April 1848, hundreds of clubs and newspapers were able to open in Paris. Despite the new freedom of the press, attending clubs was still risky for women. Many women, following the aftermath of the revolution, were wary of attending these newly formed clubs. Debates within were extremely restrictive, and discussing women’s rights was interpreted as a daring topic. Eugénie Niboyet, Désirée Gay, and Jeanne Deroin saw this as further cause of separating women from participating in public debates. They, along with their friends, all possessed previous editor experience for working on earlier women’s journals, and discussed these social exclusions. It was through these discussions that La Voix des Femmes (the Voice of Women) was founded as a publication to provide an outlet for women who were silenced in French society.

Eugénie Niboyet, Désirée Gay, and Jeanne Deroin looked to other women activists and writers to join them as contributors to the journal, which became viewed as a space to include both women in social activism and educate them on current issues. La Voix des Femmes covered various topics on the rights of women, ranging from intellectual rights to political rights. Women who wrote in the early stages of  La Voix des Femmes included Suzzane Voilquin, Elise Lemonnier, Gabrielle Soumet, Hermance Lesguillons, Pauline Roland, and Amélie Pria.

Women spent the spring months of 1848 through La Voix des Femmes demanding the Provisional Government and Republican men to recognize women’s autonomy and rights. Many of the French women participating in these movements were involved as earlier republicans and socialists in the movements of the 1830s, and were experienced in lobbying against the state for rights. In fact, the majority of feminist and social projects headed by women during the Second Republic were created without the support of the French State. La Voix des Femmes is a principal example in this case.

(This section is very interesting but it is rather long and a lot of it focused on context. It might make the article more accessible to make this background section more concise. It's ok that you don't discuss everything in lengthy detail. You can also link to other articles so people can read more if they want. Also, might be helpful to briefly and simply explain what the February Revolution is here)

History of the Journal and 1848 Context[edit]
Significant social transformation took place during the year 1848, and in this context, La Voix des Femmes emerged as a beacon for women’s rights. Parisian women’s rights activists published the first edition of La Voix des Femmes shortly after the February Revolution. The newspaper’s aim was to promote feminist ideas, and its writers collaborated with women all over the world, such as the English anti-slavery proponent Anne Knight. This relationship represented the larger theme of international correspondences between feminists in the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Germanies. Eugénie Niboyet, who presided over La Voix des Femmes in its beginning stages, argued that people could no longer sideline women’s calls for suffrage and education in the midst of creating the Second Republic. The first edition, published in mid-March, included a discussion on women’s education, a message to the organization of work, letters from the people, critique on prison work, announcements, stories of women, and rights for laundresses, who were notoriously overworked.

March was a pivotal month as the new freedom of the press caused many other newspapers to be promoted around this time as well, yet most of these newspapers were unable to continue past the first or second issues. La Voix des Femmes, however, obtained high rates of readership and significant praises as readers called for its publication daily. Its success was so great that it even surpassed the original writers’ aspirations. La Voix’s accomplishments were very significant to Niboyet and other early editors, as it encouraged them to print additional issues of the newspaper and expand their advocacy to additional feminist issues. The editors actively resisted male dominance through the establishment and continued publication of La Voix des Femmes. Specifically, they formed La Voix des Femmes to combat the Provisional Government and its press, which would not circulate women’s writings. They also continued publishing in order to counteract omnipresent male influence by providing women’s voices in the public sphere, and further, to advance female power.

In founding La Voix des Femmes, the three main editors tried to uplift the voices and other disadvantaged groups in French society through the paper and the organization, which went by the same name. Unlike earlier journals, La Voix des Femmes was not deemed neutral, as it was a forum that focused entirely on women, women’s rights, and opportunities for women. Citizens also considered it revolutionary because at the time, many women’s publications focused on fashion and patterns, while La Voix emphasized women’s emancipation and related issues. La Voix des Femmes’ leaders also planned for a library, a place of instruction, and an association under this name that would serve as a public space to help women in need. The articles published in the paper challenged the notion that women were only meant to serve within the home. Furthermore, these women offered up personal spaces to advance their cause and promote women’s rights. Exemplifying this notion, Niboyet’s home became the primary headquarters for the editorial association. Members used it for debates, proposals, and discussions about workshops. This editorial association was known as Association Fraternelle des Femmes, or the Women's Fraternal Association, before they officially chose the appellation of the Club des Femmes. La Voix des Femmes, therefore, was no longer solely a newspaper, but soon grew to encompass a society and an entire organization.

To promote the newspaper, people sold La Voix des Femmes subscriptions on the streets. However, these female hawkers often faced abuse due to their gender and the journal's messages, so it became difficult to promote their cause. Readers assisted with the newspaper’s success, as their support fueled its financial growth. For example, if ten readers agreed to a group subscription, they would also receive a free magazine of La Voix des Femmes. In order to join the society as a member, individuals had to be introduced first and then the committee voted. Membership cost up to three francs, with the lowest as fifty centimes, which brought additional income to help provide for printing and financing the workshops. Throughout the year 1848, La Voix des Femmes La Voix showed how its content was not only focused on women’s rights like emancipation, but also included a class consciousness and focus on helping unemployed women. As providing for unemployed women was a primary goal, Niboyet and others worked to create a collection that would aid working class people. They utilized meetings as a place to raise funds for their “sisters,” and subsequently gave the collected money to working class women for food and other necessities.

After receiving great success from March to summer, La Voix des Femmes printed their last publication on the dates in mid- to late-June 1848. Sources state the last publication date as anywhere from the 15th to the 20th of June. The closure of the paper and its organization came in the wake of the June Days uprising in which many socialist political clubs were silenced by the French government. The last issue continued to discuss matters of divorce and disproved the Republic of 1848, declaring it to be archaic and filled with mistreatment of working people. Niboyet, participants in the society, writers, and readers of the publication used the political tensions of 1848 and the aftermath of the French Revolution to their benefit, as they shaped it to demand equal political rights, protection, reforms for laws through divorce, access to education, and protection of the poor.

Women's Suffrage[edit]
As La Voix des Femmes was established in the wake of the February Revolution and universal male suffrage, much of their coverage advocated for granting women the same rights. In the first issues of the paper, principal editor Eugenie Niboyet criticized the hypocrisy of France’s so-called “universal right to vote”:"“We cannot conceive of the idea of privilege being associated with the idea of democracy, yet meanwhile, when the least intelligent citoyen [male citizen] has the right to vote, the most intelligent citoyenne [female citizen] is still deprived of this right.”"However, following the April elections for the Constituent Assembly, the paper soon qualified their demands for universal female suffrage as they specified only single women should be granted the right to vote. Despite the fact that this concession was meant to soothe conservative sensibilities, La Voix des Femmes continued to receive resistance from the general public, ultimately resulting in the shuttering of their workshops and in-person meetings.

George Sand Dispute[edit]
The newspaper is also known for its public dispute with writer George Sand, a prominent feminist and activist during the revolution. Niboyet, in La Voix des Femmes, suggested Sand for nomination to the National Assembly in April 1848 as Sand was one of the most prominent feminists of the time. Niboyet believed in the right to vote for women and their ability to hold office. Sand wrote to republican newspapers to announce her disapproval of this nomination. This was a major break among the feminists of the 1848 Revolution. La Voix des Femmes was supportive of political equality, whereas Sand was more concerned with the equality of women in the private sphere, denouncing her nomination through a public letter. Additionally, Sand tacitly addressed this dispute in her 1848 novel La Petite Fadette, which examines social and gendered hierarchy.

Other Contributors[edit]
Many other women contributed to the daily writings of La Voix des Femmes. Though these women came from different backgrounds, they generally had been involved in previous organizational and political efforts, especially Saint-Simonianism. Often, these women wrote under a pseudonym with multiple women using one name, allowing for non-professional women to contribute without fear of public backlash. Generally, these women were known as Vesuviennes (the women of Vesuvius) for their passion and commitment to revolutionary change. Some notable and named contributors include Louise Crouzat, Hortense Wild, Anne Knight, Bettina von Arnim, Marie-Noémi Constant, Adèle Esquiros, Widow Mourey, Eugénie Foa, P.G. Ouvrière, and Gabrielle Soumet.

Legacy[edit]
Although the February Revolution of 1848 did not give women the right to vote, both the revolution and La Voix des Femmes went on to inspire women’s movements. The revolutionary movements are thought to have inspired the Seneca Falls Convention of the same year. Women heard enough about the protests and demands of the French women that they began to follow their lead and demand similar rights to those espoused by the newspaper. The revolutions became a point of contention within the United States, similar to the French Revolution of 1789. The socialist nature of this newspaper, along with being quite revolutionary, proved to be influential on feminists of the latter part of the 19th century, including Charlotte Gilman, Frances Willard, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

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