Mrs. Wilhelmus
AP English 8th period
29 July 2013
It is incredible how someone with such ingenious
thoughts could be so small minded when it comes to such a seemingly obvious,
important issue. Even Aristotle, perhaps one of the most innovative and
creative philosophers and thinkers in history, was subject to the absurd state
of mind that women are inferior thousands of years ago. It is sad in my opinion
because due to his and countless others' lack of respect for women,
developments in architecture, medicine, and politics were postponed until many
years later. Overall, assuming that women were unequal and less important than
men stunted the growth of the world for years until women were given justice
and respect.
Aristotle and
Plato's ideas contrasted in many areas but none as unfortunate as the subject
of gender equality. On page 115, it is stated that Aristotle was vocal about
how he felt that women were "incomplete" and "unfinished
men". Whether it was because of reproductive parts or not that they felt
this way is unsure, but I believe that men of this era and eras to come
felt this way because of influences from the Bible. I feel this way because
Adam was forced to give Eve one of ribs, therefore making it seem as though Eve
was unable to provide for herself and compensate for lacking something she
needed. As for Aristotle's belief that the child carried only the
characteristics of their father, I do not understand. This belief is
astonishing to me because obviously, Aristotle had both a mother and a father
and most likely had characteristics and traits from both of them. However, this
belief was probably just another addition to his sexist thinking and an attempt
to convince the rest of his followers of the woman's inferiority.
I was
not surprised to learn that almost all of the thinkers and ideas spoken of in Sophie's
World are men because when speaking of the past, a majority of the world
was ran by men. However, I do find it interesting that among the genius
thinkers mentioned throughout the novel, none of them ever thought to include
women more often or even consider them equal to them. Not only did I find that
issue troubling, but in the time of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, women
seemed content with their place as being seen as lower class or not equal. Out
of all of the thinkers introduced throughout the novel, Plato seemed to have
the most progressive way of thinking when it came to gender equality. Although
he didn't quite have a completely ideal way of treating women, he did say that
"a state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only
trains his right arm", which demonstrates his ability to understand that
women were equal to men. Also, I appreciated that in a time when these types of
thoughts were frowned upon, Plato dared to express his honest opinion on women.
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