Prompt #2

Emma Burry
AP English Language
Mrs. Wilhelmus
August 12, 2013

Gender Rules

Throughout history, women have been looked down upon as being incapable of handling the tasks only set aside for men. This was a poor time in our world’s history and now our society knows that the housewife stereotype was incorrect. Though several women today enjoy the perks of working at home, there are plenty of others that have occupations in the medical field, politics, and other growing industries. Without these women, the growth of our society would be lacking. It is hard to understand why older generations scrutinized women in such ways.

Many of the philosophers in Sophie’s World held a very narrow view on women, like Aristotle. Though I do not agree with his outlook, I do see how Aristotle came to his conclusion on women. He had no other experience to base his beliefs on. I would definitely argue some of his points were invalid, like how women were not responsible for the creation of the child. Obviously this is not a point which anyone can dispute because we know today that each parent gives chromosomes to the offspring, which contribute to its traits.  Overall, I was upset by his views, because he did not give women the slightest chance to prove themselves and he disregarded the facts that were clearly under his nose. I do not believe that he handled this subject as a philosopher, but more as a typical male. It is difficult for philosophers to have closed minds on such subjects and I believe skepticism was his weakness.

In my personal opinion, I was more pleased with Plato’s take on gender. He was definitely more open-minded and less skeptic. As Plato was a student of Aristotle this was a little confusing and at the same time promising. It showed how a teacher of philosophy could influence a student, but in the same moment the student was able to form his own opinion. This made me enjoy Plato’s ideas and history that much more. The fact that people of his time did not agree with his views of women is upsetting. I have learned to accept that not many people believed in women’s capabilities during this time period. This realization made it easier for me to accept the fact that the majority of the figures in Sophie’s World were men. If the book had been written about female philosophers, the book would have been 1/5 the size and would have not been an international bestseller. No one is interested in the philosophical points that never influenced the world.

Though it is a shame that not many males recognized women’s capabilities, women made up for it in the long run. The males set up the framework of society for centuries and the women came and helped fill it out later. It is important to have both sexes working together to keep our culture functioning and thriving. Without the existence of females how would we live?