Change in Women's Role in Western Europe

The world went through many changes between the era of 1750 and 1914. One of these many changes would be the change in women’s roles- especially in Western Europe. Acceptance in society, working opportunities, and rising in political power are all examples of these changes.

In the 18th century women advocated to be viewed just as equal as men were. During this time their status in society changed many times and even returned to the state of inferiority at one point in time. Women, such as Olympe de Gouges and Mary Wollstonecraft, were treated as revolutionary idealists because of their wishes to be viewed as equal. When the Industrial Revolution started new social changes brought the stirring beliefs to a halt. This reduced women back to being homemakers and child providers.

During the 20th century, women gained the right to vote throughout the world. This was a privilege reserved for only men until this time. The inception and first attempt at providing equality for women are efforts that made their roles in today society possible.

Throughout this time period, the role of women in Western Europe transitioned from child providing home keepers, into revolutionary idealists, into being reduced once more to home keepers, to reducing their roles to their traditional importance after the Industrial Revolution.

During the 18th century women’s roles were only to raising children and being home keepers. They stayed true to the traditional belief that men were superior to women. During the 19th century advocates for women’s equality led to stirring up revolutionary ideals and started more significant rights for women. During the 20th century the roles of women changed immensely. They began to receive the right to vote, the right to do the work they wanted, and people slowly started treating them inferior to men.