La querelle des femmes: Female salon leaders' influence and representation in seventeenth and eighteenth-century France

The history of gender equality arises out of a psychological and physiological context, questioning whether women have the same abilities as men, and how their roles in society are created based on these abilities. For several centuries, men and women debated over the roles of women in society, producing ample queries to la querelle des femmes, or the woman question in France.;This thesis analyzes the literary contributions of four French salonnieres whose writings challenged the social construct of French society by addressing issues brought up in la querelle des femmes. Asserting the need to re-evaluate women's roles in society, these salonnieres writings promoted the female gender's place in salon culture by showcasing its attention to honnetete, arguing for a better education for young girls, recognizing women as arbiters of taste, and in themselves representing strong-willed role models as female authors and leaders.