All Men and Both Sexes

All Men and Both Sexes, Volume 1, examines the evolution of universal language in early modern England. Hilda L Smith investigates how terms like people, man, and human created a false sense of inclusion while systematically excluding women from the political sphere. Moving beyond Enlightenment doctrines, this scholarly work traces the roots of exclusion back to the English Revolution and the restrictive values of the free born Englishman. This social science text analyzes how the male maturation process defined the very qualities required for citizenship and responsible adulthood.

Through an analysis of guild records, educational treatises, and parliamentary debates, the book explores the foundations of modern individualism and liberalism. Smith demonstrates how the eighteenth century discourse of sensibility relegated women to a separate sphere of dependency. This gender studies and women's studies volume explains why women were forced to seek suffrage based on gender difference rather than democratic franchise. All Men and Both Sexes, Volume 1, provides a critical look at historical linguistic structures.