Therefore women could not but be concerned; yet people talked about the freeing of man, but not of woman. Women were rejected and discouraged when they wanted to serve the Revolution. It is in this sense that their rejection was a reactionary step. A history of the period since 1789 could be written under the title "A History of the Inconsistencies of the Revolutionary Party." But this attitude of many Commune officers toward women corresponds to an age-old feeling that is too deep and too widespread for it to be easily changed, despite various interventions.

— The Women Incendiaries by Edith Thomas (Page 142)