This is a result of women on the whole being more affected by poverty in France than their male counterparts, in part because many are heads-of-household and need to take time off from paid employment to give birth to children.

Priscillia Ludosky was one of the first people involved, after launching it inadvertently on 29 May 2018 by posting an online petition about the need for lower taxes, reducing salaries and pensions of public officials and creating an implementation of the citizens' initiative referendum.

Jacline Mouraud played another critical role that month in creating the movement, when she posted a Facebook video that went viral about France's proposed eco-tax to which she was opposed.

[2] Many women have to spend time out of the workforce to give birth to children, and are unable to make up the salary loss and the consequent government contribution towards retirement payments.

[2] Government models for social payments have largely been based around the needs of men, with the assumption that a head-of-household is a man married to a woman who has children.

[12] Seeking to gain more support for the grievances listed in the petition and to combat rising fuel prices, Eric Drouet reached out to Ludosky in October 2018.

[6][13] According to The Guardian and other news sources, Jacline Mouraud has "been widely credited with starting the yellow vests movement" (French: gilets jaunes).

[13][16] In it, she asked President Macron, “What are you doing with the money apart from buying new dishes at the Élysée Palace and building yourself swimming pools?”[7] The video was not her first of its kind, as Mouraud had made a similar one in April 2017.

[28] At another roundabout in Auchan-Fayet, a Muslim woman in a veil had been stuck in traffic for an hour as a result of yellow vest related road closures.

[9][30] She also recognized that during Act II, the protest was infiltrated by extremists from both the left and right, expressing regret that the police did not take any steps to stop them.

One specifically mentioned women, demanding, "Respect male / female parity: alignment of the qualification and the position held at equal pay.

[35] During her time as a spokesperson, Charrette-Labadie was contacted constantly by people in the movement asking for updates as to what had been accomplished and by members of the media seeking comment.

[22][34] On 27 November 2018, she was one of six yellow vests activists to participate in a LCI program called "The Great Explanation" (French: La Grande explication).

[39] An 80-year-old woman was killed in Marseille during Act III after being hit by a tear gas canister while closing the shutters in her fourth floor apartment.

[40] In early December, Mouraud was part of a delegation of yellow vest protesters who met with France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

Coming from a wide age range, they included Ariège educator Esther who was quoted as saying, "We live in a world where humans are more and more victims of slavery.

Another participant was 35-year-old Clarise, who said,  "With the Facebook of Carcassonne in anger, we put back the ideas, the lists of demands, and the decisions are subjected to the vote: is it we block, do we continue?

That’s not our way of doing things.”[13] Following Act IV of the movement, Dewalle signed a letter condemning police violence aimed at demonstrators that was published on 26 December.

[43][44][45][46] Organizers started using imagery for their protest featuring a woman wearing Phrygian cap and crying blue, white and red tears.

Not only would this serve to highlight needs specific to women, but it might make it more difficult for police to be openly violent towards them as clearly defined feminine figures.

[2] On the Champs Elysees during Act V, women organized a silent, artistic, topless performance protest while dressed as Marianne, a woman who represents the French Republic.

[15] Following his arrest, Maxime Nicolle, Priscillia Ludosky and other activists signed a petition requesting the police to release Eric Drouet after they had accused him of holding an unregistered protest.

"[49] Three male yellow vest protesters returning home on the Paris metro from Act VI engaged in anti-Semitic behavior.

[3][43][45][53][54] As a group, they disliked the use of the word feminist because "of a old-fashioned and worn-out mistrust of feminism that tends to describe as extremists as those seeking to abolish male dominance over women.

[3] The image of a woman wearing Phrygian cap and crying blue, white and red tears was present on signs by protesters across the country.

[54] In Paris, where several hundred women participated, marchers met on the steps of Opera Bastille, before marching to Place de la République.

[65] During Acts XIII and XIV, Levavasseur faced continual harassment and threats from other activists for her attempts to politicize the movement and draw attention to herself as an individual.

[70] Following Act XIV an open letter was addressed to Priscillia Ludosky, Jacline Mouraud, Ingrid Levavasseur, Eric Drouet, Maxime Nicolle and other yellow vest spokespeople asking them "to condemn the aggression committed against Alain Finkielkraut and the anti-Semitic remarks of which he was the victim.

[16][74] Levavasseur posted a public letter to fellow yellow vest activist Karine during Act XIV after she faced a barrage of criticism on social media platforms like Facebook.

"[5] Her platform for the party includes making a stronger parliament by weakening the powers of the executive, and to bring pay equity between men and women.