The forgotten women
Synopsis
Titiou Lecoq’s The Forgotten Women explores the history of women and their invisibility. From Prehistory to today, women’s contributions have often been erased or minimized.
Through stories, research, and analysis, the book highlights the mechanisms that silenced these voices. It brings forgotten women to light in politics, science, art, and society.
Accessible, well-documented, and committed, this essay invites readers to rethink history and recognize the importance of past and present women’s struggles.
The central theme of the book is the erasure of women. This phenomenon, also called invisibilization or cryptogyny, refers to the tendency to hide, erase, or make women and their contributions invisible in collective narratives.
Titiou Lecoq shows that this is no accident: patriarchal society long limited women’s roles, access to power, and knowledge. Despite these obstacles, many women worked and fought yet countless names were lost to history.
Lecoq reminds us that historical accounts were mostly written by men, often downplaying women’s contributions. She highlights an “acquired helplessness” taught from school, fostering passivity toward inequality. Patriarchy entrenched itself by controlling what was considered non-masculine.
This dynamic created cycles of progress and setbacks for women’s rights. Rewriting history and acknowledging these struggles is essential. As historian Michelle Perrot says: “What is not told does not exist”.
The book is part of a contemporary movement to honor women’s memory. It serves both as a synthesis of current research and a call to action: understanding the past helps fight for equality today.
Author
Titiou Lecoq
Genre
Engaged historical essay
Publisher
L’Iconoclaste
Release
September 28, 2023
Pages
223 pages
Language
French
History erased women. This book finally puts them back in their rightful place and brings to life the forgotten voices of the past.