The Monopoly of Man

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to confess to you that when considering the inferior social condition of women, a question came to my mind that left me momentarily perplexed and uncertain. How—I said to myself—does one isolate the question of the woman from so many other social problems, all of which are rooted in injustice, all of which are based on the privilege of one sex or one class?

It could, theoretically, seem that, since in today’s world, privilege of any nature—the essential cornerstone of all social institutions, from civil rights and politics, to class relations, to the relationship between man and woman—has been debated, tackled, and has lost ground—it could seem, in other words, that this should have derived even a little bit of justice for woman, the most blamed victim in modern social relations.

But the experience of many countless women who attempted to deviate from the traditional gender binary of the feminine, and above all my own experience, have taught me that, if many generous men, intellectuals and scientists, even those from the privileged classes, are toiling toward the solution to multiple, complex social problems, none is as great as the problem of the privilege of man with respect to woman.

All men, with few exceptions, and from every social class, for infinite reasons none too flattering for a sex that considers itself strong, consider the privilege of their sex a natural phenomenon and defend it with a marvelous tenacity, calling for God’s help, church, science, ethics, and applicable laws: none other than the legal sanction of the arrogance of one class and of one dominant sex. And it is for this, that—notwithstanding the deep connections linking various problems—it strikes me to separate the problem of the social condition of woman from all of the other pathological phenomena of the social organism, generated in great part from that terrible drama of life, the struggle for existence.

In this long struggle, continuous and exhausting, with the advancing and evolving of society, a sentiment has germinated that becomes ever more conscious—the sentiment of social justice—of civil equality of human beings. With this sentiment, which is often, unfortunately, still unconscious among the proletarian, the worker raises his head and demands the rights due to him by his work; the farmer demeaned by ignorance and hard work, not knowing and not able to consciously demand that which is due him, simply feeling the injustice, rebels violently to give a final shock to all of the remaining feudal workers, who will no longer bear the burden in modern social relations.

All of the marginalized, all of the pariahs in society are beginning to mobilize, to ask for a bit of light, of air, and a life in compliance with human dignity; and it is therefore most natural that, just in our century, a serious and vast movement has been brought to the fore among the last and most numerous of the pariahs that form half of humanity—that is, among women.

In all of Europe and America, armies of women are being established to fight for their redemption and to shake off the centuries-old yoke imposed on them by the male sex. And even though this women’s struggle is not so manifest because—for infinite physiological and physic reasons—it can never adopt the character of brutality and of hatred, which marks the struggle of the various social classes, it is unmistakably a movement to overthrow the privilege of man and to shake off his power.

And it is for this reason that, wishing to speak about the social condition of women, I have not found a better way to get to the heart of the question, than to put into evidence the various manifestations of the monopoly of man, in employment and in social position.

I know that, treating the question from this point of view, I will have to confront greater difficulties, since, to make oneself acceptable, the one who occupies an inferior spot on the scale of social coexistence should never directly assail strong enemies, but should humbly request some little concession, in a show of esteem and good grace, defending oneself from eventual attacks, and never make use of the unscrupulous weapon of criticism; one must, therefore, modulate one’s voice in a key of humility to make oneself heard.

I will not, however, make an indictment. It is not a condemnation, at any cost, of the other sex that women demand; this aspires, rather, to attain the conscious and active cooperation of the best men, those who have become emancipated, if only in part, from sentiments based in custom, prejudices and above all masculine egotism, who are ready to recognize the just motives that women have to occupy a position in life worthy of having won their rights.

After all, in denouncing male tyranny, I will not forgo the chance to say things that perhaps seem harsh, even to the sex to which they pertain. But, indeed, it seems to me that you authorize me to represent you and I feel responsible in every way, despite my weaknesses; which then, like diseases of the body, will not leave, nor will they wane, without first being bravely confessed and diagnosed. It must be well understood that my observations cannot be in any way absolute: they seek a mean among things and among people—from here to there, where such exceptions are abundant—that, as was noted, do not upset the rule.