<P> The Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap, or pileus, is a brimless, felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip pulled forward . It reflects Roman republicanism and liberty, alluding to the Roman ritual of manumission of slaves, in which a freed slave receives the bonnet as a symbol of his newfound liberty . </P> <P> Historians since the late 20th century have debated how women shared in the French Revolution and what long - term impact it had on French women . Women had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they were considered "passive" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them . That changed dramatically in theory as there seemingly were great advances in feminism . Feminism emerged in Paris as part of a broad demand for social and political reform . The women demanded equality for men and then moved on to a demand for the end of male domination . Their chief vehicle for agitation were pamphlets and women's clubs, but the clubs were abolished in October 1793 and their leaders were arrested . The movement was crushed . Devance explains the decision in terms of the emphasis on masculinity in a wartime situation, Marie Antoinette's bad reputation for feminine interference in state affairs, and traditional male supremacy . A decade later the Napoleonic Code confirmed and perpetuated women's second - class status . </P> <P> When the Revolution opened, groups of women acted forcefully, making use of the volatile political climate . Women forced their way into the political sphere . They swore oaths of loyalty, "solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, (and) affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship ." De Corday d'Armont is a prime example of such a woman; engaged in the revolutionary political faction of the Girondins, she assassinated the Jacobin leader, Marat . Throughout the Revolution, other women such as Pauline Léon and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the radical Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and participated in the riots, often using armed force . </P> <P> The March to Versailles is but one example of feminist militant activism during the French Revolution . While largely left out of the thrust for increasing rights of citizens, as the question was left indeterminate in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, activists such as Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt agitated for full citizenship for women . Women were, nonetheless, "denied political rights of' active citizenship' (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793)." </P>

What was the name of the french social class system before the revolution of 1789