Le sexe de l’Homme de la Déclaration des Droits. Contestation et Appropriations par les catholiques italiennes de l’héritage de 1789 (1900-1919)

Abstract

Was the Mankind of the Declaration of Rights 1789 a gendered category? Olympe de Gouges and feminists who claimed the revolutionary legacy gave a first response to this issue when they asked that women should be included in the political body of the Nation. Besides the feminist, other female voices argued for another definition of Mankind. By operating a shift in time and space, this article provides an insight on the representation of the Mankind of the Bill of Rights that prevailed in the Catholic women’s movement. Our analysis will primarily focus on the writings of the founder of the Union of Catholic Women of Italy. According to the author, the figure of the Catholic Citizen emerged as a political subject who differed from the male citizen. The article highlights the evolution of the discourse of Catholic associations in Italy, which rallied the feminist agenda by considering that women should be awarded political citizenship.