versy. Here, however, it might be well to recall the fact that he
had only just emerged from a working-class environment, and
that many of his reactions were, and remained throughout his
life, astonishingly true to the outlook of the Latin working man.
A t that time the idea of sexual equality was much less frequent in
this social class than among the bourgeoisie, while ‘free love’ was
more in vogue among middle-class Utopians than among genuine
proletarian radicals. This situation persisted throughout the nine
teenth century; the early pronouncements of the French workers
in the First International on the subject of women were strikingly
similar to those expressed by Proudhon throughout his life.
This point helps to explain rather than to justify the rigidity of
Proudhon’s outlook on the relationship of the sexes, which was
shared by few socialists in his time, which was rejected by his
anarchist disciples, and which would be accepted by few en
lightened people today.
THE HILLS OF THE JURA