ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on gender in European thought by examining a series of women, ranging from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, whose writings were sharply critical of gender-based discrimination or prejudice. The writers are Christine de Pisan (1364–1430), Mary Astell (1666–1731), and Clara Zetkin (1857–1933), with each revealing, as this chapter argues, that women relied on ambient traditions of liberty to argue in favor of greater liberty for women in general. Moreover, it also notes that as these traditions changed, so too did the arguments.
