WOMEN'S FREEMASONRY AND ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLES

Article published in the Masonic Digital Magazine of the FIL-INFOS-LOGES Association on march 9, 2025, in English, French and Spanish.

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WOMEN'S FREEMASONRY AND ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLES

By Margarita Rojas Blanco M.·. M.·.

Development as freedom is one of the most modern concepts applied to overcoming poverty among nations. For development to exist, there must be freedom of movement within the environment, and freedom of movement is understood as the ability of an individual or a community to choose their own path without any kind of obstacles.

For example, if a person chooses to be a farmer, wakes up every day at 4:00 AM to work the land with satisfaction, raises animals, and produces their own food, then this person is free and, therefore, on the path of development—provided, of course, that their basic needs are met. However, if another person, an office worker, carries out their tasks out of obligation, because they have no other choice, because their environment offers no alternatives, and they would rather be doing something else—but, worse still, they perform these tasks without joy or motivation, simply because they lack the ability to choose—then this person is not free and, therefore, is not exercising their legitimate right to development.

Thus, poverty and the lack of opportunities (economic, social, and human) are the main obstacles to a person's exercise of freedom. For development to exist, human beings must be free to choose.

Freedom to act and freedom not to act—this latter being one of the least studied but, in my opinion, one of the most important.

Amartya Sen is one of the great exponents of the concept of freedom as development. That very freedom—and freedom in general—has historically been associated with men, who have exercised it as a natural part of social evolution—an artificial evolution.

Amartya Sen is known for his work on famines, human development theory, welfare economics, and the underlying mechanisms of poverty. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sen's writings helped define the field of public choice theory, challenging dominant utilitarianism and proposing the integration of “goods” such as freedom and justice into development calculations.

Sen's most renowned work is his 1981 essay Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, in which he demonstrated that hunger is not caused by a lack of food, but rather by inequalities in food distribution mechanisms. Beyond his research on the causes of famines, his work in economic development has had a significant influence on the formulation of the Human Development Index (HDI) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Years before Sen, there was a woman ahead of her time—a free thinker of the 18th century, an exceptional woman: Maria Deraismes. She argued that education was the most powerful weapon for women, emphasized the rigor of science as a great tool to dismantle false beliefs, myths, and above all, accusatory religions. “Power has sought to degrade women and has only managed to degrade itself,” said Maria.

Deraismes thought not only of the women of her time but also of those in the future. If Maria could sit down for coffee with Amartya Sen, she would surely consider it a triumph to be able to discuss these topics so naturally, as some women today are privileged to do—though that privilege has been hard-won. And surely, these two free thinkers would conclude that women remain the segment of society with the least freedom.

Thanks to Maria Deraismes and those who supported her, women can now enter the august mysteries of Freemasonry. In 1893, she co-founded Le Droit Humain, the first Mixed Masonic Obedience, alongside George Martin.

History tells us that on January 14, 1882, in Le Pecq, a small town in France, the Freethinkers Lodge initiated the esteemed sister Maria Deraismes—an initiation condemned by all Masonic obediences. She was the first woman in history, officially received into a Masonic order using the same ritual practiced in male initiations. It was a scandalous sacrilege at the time. The Freethinkers Lodge was consequently suspended from its obedience (the Grand Symbolic Scottish Lodge), forcing Deraismes to distance herself from the lodge and its work. A female worker had abandoned the construction... for the first time.

Eleven years later, on April 4, 1893, Maria Deraismes, with the help of Georges Martin—who had supported her admission into Freemasonry—created the first Mixed Lodge in Paris. This was the beginning of what would later become known as the International Mixed Masonic Order of Le Droit Humain.

The Order of Le Droit Humain has three fundamental characteristics:

• It is a Mixed Masonic Order where men and women work together in perfect equality and harmony.

• It is the only international Masonic Order.

• It is an initiatory Order that operates from the First Degree to the 33rd Degree.

The Freemasons of the International Mixed Masonic Order Le Droit Humain began working towards absolute freedom of conscience, tolerance, and harmony in a fraternally united society without distinction of ethnic, social, philosophical, or religious origin. In this regard, they fully embraced the principles of Amartya Sen: freedom as a prerequisite for development.

Women play a fundamental role in development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the leaders of 193 countries in 2015, made gender equality and women’s empowerment one of the most important aspects of the charter, incorporating a roadmap to achieve them, ensuring sustainable development for all nations. Gender equality is a cross-cutting theme in each of the 17 SDGs.

Ensuring women’s and girls’ rights through the fulfillment of all these objectives is the only way to achieve true development. That is why Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 is Gender Equality.

According to the United Nations:

“When the number of employed women increases, economies grow. Studies conducted in OECD countries and some non-member countries show that increasing women's participation in the workforce—or reducing the disparity between men's and women's labor participation—leads to faster economic growth.”

“Empirical data from various countries indicate that increasing the proportion of household income controlled by women—whether from their own earnings or monetary transfers—changes spending patterns in ways that benefit children.”

Masonic feminism is thus one of the paths that women have carved toward freedom, continuously clearing obstacles along the way. If there has ever been a path in human history filled with challenges, it is that of women. So much so that even in 2025, many lodges still do not recognize women in Freemasonry and are appalled to see them in full regalia, working diligently in the lodges, daring to utter sacred words.

To the first female Freemasons, we owe eternal gratitude for pioneering the fight for women's rights and the pursuit of freedom and the development of all peoples.

This is my word.