Gynodicy
Gender-egalitarian fictions of origin in European philosophical culture (1673-1751)

Gynodicy is at the heart of the debates pertaining to the querelle des femmes, an intellectual phenomenon, stemming from Christine de Pisan’s “La Cité des dames” and extending to the early modern era, centered around the discussion on “the woman question”, i.e., the differences and similarities between men and women in terms of their intellectual, emotional and physical capacities, and also women’s rights to achieve self-realisation (beyond the role of the mother and the wife), to receive a formal education and to participate in civic and political decision-making.

The project focuses on texts that defend gender equality which were written and/or published between 1673 (year of the publication of François Poulain de la Barre’s “De l’égalité des deux sexes”) and 1751 (estimated date of Louise Dupin’s last work on her “Ouvrage sur les femmes / Des femmes”), a period of intense intellectual debate about the philosophical premises that undergird the socio-political organization of modern societies.

Men’s unjust domination of women is denounced in these texts, given that it is deemed neither natural nor imposed by God; rather, it has a historical and social origin and it can be undone in favour of more egalitarian bonds between men and women. Hence, these writings are faced with the challenge of explaining the problem of “gynodicy”.