Blog Post 2

Logan Sullivan           

Mrs. Wagener

AP English Lit.

7^th August 2013

The Rights of Women

            Women have always been seen as inferior to men until around a century ago. While the men went out of the household to hunt for food, or do a hard laboring job, the women were back at their houses cooking and tending to their children. It was also not considered to be acceptable if a female had a say in government or had a paying job, because their rights were not welcomed into society. In philosophy, women’s rights have been a subject that has been brought up many times, and two specific philosophers that share their opinion go by the names of Plato, and Aristotle.

            Even though Aristotle’s views on women would not be accepted in modern day society, his views were not surprising to read about. His views of that women were inferior to men and that he saw them as “incomplete versions” of man were not an assumption that was looked down upon during his time. Another view he had was that when it came to reproduction and the creation of the baby, the man was the only contributor to both. The only thing that the woman was useful for was providing a “safe haven” for the baby to form. With modern technology, we know that Aristotle’s assumption is completely wrong. But just because Aristotle was wrong, does not mean he was foolish or incompetent, because no technology during his time could have proved or disproved his assumptions.

            Plato, Aristotle’s mentor, had a much different, and basically opposite view, of Aristotle. Plato provided admirable answers to women’s rights more so then any of the other philosophers. He did not think women were man’s equal, because they lacked in physical strength, but said that a woman’s role in society was just as important because they had certain strengths that men just could not posses. It was surprising to see Plato go against everyone else during his time, since Aristotle’s view was the most influential and accepted view. It was also surprising to see that not all philosophers were male. It was to be expected for there to be mainly male philosophers, but during a time where female rights were looked down upon; female philosophers were mentioned and well discussed in Sophie’s World.

            Aristotle and Plato had opposite views on women, and it was uplifting that Plato had more respect towards women then most people during his time. It is disappointing that Aristotle’s view was accepted and thought to be right, but there was nothing to prove him wrong. Since a century ago, women have been making an impact on society more than ever before, and to this day, women have and always did earn their right to be equal with man.