The Scientific Revolution was an age of innovation and reason. As more people were trying to question nature and started proving facts with observations rather than scripture. Women tried to use reason to shut down arguments saying that they were inferior to men, the querelle des femmes, however it backfired on them because men used facts like their smaller skull and larger pelvis to prove their superiority. Although during the 17th and 18th centuries there was a rise in female scientists that thought they were just as capable as men, they often had to detach themselves from traditional roles to achieve success and even then, they were still ridiculed by many intellectual men.
With the rise in interest of scientific knowledge came a rise in the number of male scientists, but many females like Merian also pursued the same knowledge (Doc 3). In her book she describes what she did which was entomology (Doc 3). However to gain the knowledge to be able to do this she had to learn from her father’s workshop. During this era the only way women were able to become scientists were with a man’s help. Erxleben was another famous female scientist (Doc 6). In her book, Inquiry into the Causes Preventing the Female Sex from Studying, she describes how a lot of people will think she’s overextending her privileges by practicing medicine (Doc 6). This pressure by everyone is especially amplified since she’s the first woman to earn a medical doctor. She’s so worried about everyone else’s opinion because if she messes up she screws it up for other woman. Female scientists were really passionate about their work but the constant abuse from intellectual men made it hard for them to exist in the scientific world.
The female scientists who did succeed often detached themselves from society to accomplish their goal. Eberti describes the life of Cunitz as a life of hard work and solitude (Doc 1). Her passion for astronomy was more important than fulfilling the traditional domestic roles women played during the this time period (Doc 1). Another example of this is apparent in the life of Chatelet. She’s a scientist that detaches herself from her traditional roles to fulfill her wishes (Doc 7). She spends most of the day working rather than doing house chores. The duties of a woman in this era were to take care of the house and have babies. The only reason Chatelet was able to live a life like that was the fact that she was an aristocrat and had other people like butlers and maids to take care of household duties for her. Even with all the hard work women put in they were not often liked.
Although there were few men like Leibniz who would rather respect women than crack a cold one with the boys, most shared the opinion that women weren’t capable of anything but making babies and chores. Leibniz thought that educated women could understand science but that only aristocratic women were able to (Doc 4). Leibniz was a good friend of Winkelmann, a famous female astronomer, so it isn’t hard to see why he holds the opinion that educated women are capable of the same things as men. However when he died she was rejected from the Berlin Academy of Sciences by their secretary because she was “harming their reputation,” (Doc 5). The secretary was probably very quick to write this letter to the president because his only source of income, his job, was at stake since the Academy’s reputation was at stake. At one of the meetings of these academies a duchess was invited but Pepys instantly stopped acknowledging anything she said just because of her dress (Doc 2). This just shows how ridiculous women were treated by intellectuals during the Enlightenment.
Women weren’t treated very well during the Enlightenment. Most couldn’t follow their passions in the scientific and medical fields because of the harsh stereotype that was placed on them. Women throughout the rest of history were still oppressed. Another example being during the Women’s Suffrage movement. During this time period the Industrial Revolution and Civil War were happening in America. Women were already working outside the house so they pushed for more equality. Saying that they were capable of same things as men just like women during the Enlightenment saying they could do the same scientific work as men. At first it was for equal rights to men generally at first but it eventually narrowed down to the right to vote. Although women during both eras argued that they were created equal so should therefore be treated equal, women in the suffrage movement said that because they were different and could offer a more maternal view in politics. While women are progressively getting treated better there has been a fight for their equality all throughout history.