ABSTRACT
As Joan Scott points out in her influential article, "Deconstructing equality-versus-difference: or, the uses of poststructuralist theory for feminism," insofar as both feminist "camps" desire the elimination of gender based-domination, the antinomy between "equality" and "difference" is in part a spurious one. Opting for a middle ground between individualist universalism and group-based essentialism, de Gouges proposes that social differences must be acknowledged and used as a means of achieving sexual and socio-political equality. Furthermore, although de Gouges emulates the masculine republican model and uses the term "Woman" in the singular, it is not at all clear from her statements that she assumes women to constitute a homogeneous group. The concept of citizenship would be based upon some kind of notion of proportional representation that would permit all citizens to have equal access to public decisions. Proportional representation systems may well be based on totalitarian repression or manipulation of votes and hence show little regard for valid norms of democratic justice.
