Louise Labe was a sixteenth-century poet that introduced the world to many feminist ideas. A French writer, many of her ideas and perceptions about women expressed through her poetry were unique to the time. At the time she was writing, women were mostly confined to the house. Many of the views in her writing conform to modern standards in the way that women are depicted as free individuals that have the right to do whatever they please.
Louise Labe is credited with helping to advance the rights of women in sixteenth-century France. Her work, well-known at the time, was despised by men who were afraid that women would become too powerful.
Born in Lyon is 1524, Louise Labe was born into a wealthy family. This wealth likely had great influence over the spread of her work, especially due to her father's honorable position in society. Despite being nearly five hundred years old, much of Labe's work is still read today to remind people to what life was like for a woman long ago, and how views have changed since.
