This literary genre developed in Italian and French early humanist circles and was led by numerous women scholars, who wrote in Latin and vernacular to counter dominant misogynistic literature.
[citation needed] The querelle des femmes or "dispute of women" originally referred to a literary genre and broad debate, that originated in humanistic and aristocratic circles in the Italian peninsula and France during the early modern period, regarding the nature of women, their capabilities, and whether they should be permitted to study, write, or govern in the same manner as men.
Both in the scholarly and popular sphere, authors criticized and praised women's natures, arguing for or against their capacity to be educated in the same manner as men.
[2] While this debate was deeply meaningful and personal to some of the authors who wrote in support of or against women, participation in the querelle des femmes was also viewed as an intellectual exercise.
Conflict between women's prescribed roles, their own values, and their perceptions of self are prominent in such works as Die Walküre, Effi Briest, Madame Bovary, Middlemarch, Anna Karenina, A Doll's House, and Hedda Gabler.
Also, much of Christianity throughout the ages, has viewed women as the Daughters of Eve, the original temptress responsible for humanity being expelled from the Garden of Eden.
[2] In 1529, Heinrich Agrippa contended that men in society did not oppress women because of some natural law, but because they wanted to keep their social power and status.
The dialog collected poetry and dialogues which proclaimed the value of women, arguing that their intelligence and capability to rule cannot be recognized if they are not educated.
[1] The tradition of defending women from specific attacks continued into the 1600s and 1700s:Another poet, Sarah Fyge Field Egerton, appears to have written The Female Advocate (1686) – at age 14!
These matters took their place in the social discourse beginning only in the early 1700s, and there is little evidence that the querelle des femmes occupied a significant role in the public consciousness prior to the 18th century.
The Industrial Revolution brought hundreds of thousands of lower-class women into factory jobs, presenting a challenge to traditional ideas of a woman's place.
For example, in the second half of the 19th century, in the context of religion, extensive discussion within the United States took place on the participation of women in church.