Blog #2

Trevor Poirier

26 July 2013

AP English 11

Mrs. Wilhelmus

Aristotle and Women

            For a long time, women were treated as inferiors and were shorted of respect and the status of equals to men.  Some philosophers ideas conflicted each other on this subject, but one whose beliefs were anti-women was Aristotle.  For some reason he was not fond of women by any means and failed to see their importance.  He actually went as far as to say that they were unfinished and incomplete men.

            Today, the perspective on women has changed.  You see employed females, more respect for their gender as a whole, and they have the same rights as men in our society in the United States.  Although a few may contest, I believe that this is the way it should have been from the beginning, and the way it should continue.  I believe it does not matter what race or gender a person is.  We are all humans capable of the same things so it should not matter.  If the tables were turned from the beginning and women were always the prominent gender, how upset and harshly treated would men feel?  Sure, our bodies are not constructed the same way, and we may not be identical in features, but our brains function the same way.  With all that in mind, it seems ridiculous to consider women inferior to men.

            If there is one philosopher I would choose to side with on their views regarding gender, I would choose Plato.  Oddly enough, he was a huge influence on Aristotle himself.  He believed that women were just as capable to function as men, and share the same reasoning.  His beliefs strongly sided with mine, as he tended to lean towards equality rather than one prominent race or gender as I do.

            Something I found unfair but certainly predictable was that many of the famous leaders and authorities in the novel were indeed men.  It seems that in early times, everything had to be about men.  Men seemed to have gained respect and popularity much quicker.  The views at that point in time often left women in the dust.  Many of whom had talents and similar knowledge as men.  They could have been valuable contributors to society as many women are today, which makes me wonder how many women would be well-known if they were presented similar rights to today.  I guess we will never know, but we can certainly learn from this and continue to treat women with dignity and respect.