Jean‐Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft on The Sexual Politics of Republican Motherhood

This essay contributes to the ongoing contemporary debate about the eighteenth century ideology of “Republican Motherhood,” a feminine ideal that gave new status to women as mothers but limited their participation as citizens. It examines critical distinctions between Rousseau and Wollstone‐craft concerning women's place within the republic and their role as mothers within the family. At issue is whether the ideology of republican motherhood represented a compromise or a misstep on women's journey to full democratic citizenship. Wollstonecraft's emancipatory politics makes her association with the republican motherhood thesis problematic because as a feminist she rejected the separation of spheres that was the foundation of this gender ideology. She argued that women must have their own political identity and represent their interests in government. Her feminist political theory can be read as promoting a notion of “enlightened maternity” aimed at reconciling the natural rights of woman as citizen with her role as a nurturer within the family. Wollstonecraft concluded that the reciprocal nature of rights and duties demanded both men and women exercise the rights of citizenship and the duties of parents in order for the republic to be virtuous.