On their part
Eighteenth century Enlightenment France was not without its female voices calling for more egalitarianism in the relation between the sexes. Indeed, during his early years in Paris when he was her secretary Rousseau helped Mme. Dupin draft some notes on what was to be a vindication of the rights of women but which she never finished. As this paragraph demonstrates, however, Mme. Dupin never succeeded persuading Rousseau to share her early feminist views.