Tang 1

Justin Tang

Seamus Murphy

Intro to Philosophy

11 March 2020

Analyzing Gender and Gender Inequality from Philosophical Perspectives

When we think of "a Philosopher," most people would come up with a male figure

in their minds. Indeed, the majority, if not all, of the most famous philosophers are male.

This is due to most women's inability to receive philosophical education and social

expectation for them to be "good wives" in ancient times. Since Ancient Greek, gender

inequality has been an topic discussed by philosophers. Due to social environment

different philosophers lived in, they held different opinion towards the inequalities

between men and women. By looking at Aristotle, Plato, Zhu, and Beauvior's views

towards gender inequality, it is evident that the social environments influenced

philosophers' thoughts on gender inequality, and their ideas and theories also shaped

the society they lived in turn.

Aristotle believed that women are subject to men. In his book Politics, Aristotle

claimed that "as regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior,

the male ruler and the female subject" (Smith). In Greek society, women were not

considered as full citizens; only the male Greek citizens have voting rights. Women

were limited to domestic issues, and they had little chance to receive an education.
 Tang 2

Aristotle argued that a female is an "incomplete" male, and women are more emotional

and jealous than men. On the other hand, Plato, his teacher, agreed with him on women's

lack of the virtues and physical strengths that men have, but Plato believed women are

also capable of reasoning and working efficiently.

Aristotle and Plato's theory might seem outdated today, but it does make sense for

the Ancient Greeks. In Ancient Greek society, women are traditionally considered as

dependents of men. Homosexual practices between men were considered as a more

pure and virtuous form of relationship comparing with the relationship between a man

and a woman. Due to the low social status of women, they cannot receive the education

that most men received, which might be a reason that leads Aristotle and Plato to believe

that women are not as virtuous as men. In addition, in ancient Greek society, the social

expectation for women is to be good mother and take care about the domestic issues,

instead of being soldiers, philosophers, governors, workers, or teachers. Due to these

social expectations, a stereotype and phenomenon of women as dependent beings were

created in Athenian society, which in turn justifies treating women as inferior beings

and influences Aristotle and Plato's theory.

Zhu, a 12th-century Chinese philosopher, largely contributed to the traditional

Chinese understanding of women's role in society. Zhu believed that "a woman should

be responsible to her family, filial to her husband's parents, successful in handling the

relationship with other family members. She needs to be compliant with her husband

but also can provide advises in some cases, even they are based on her own will; she

also has to be a sagacious housekeeper, dealing with all the domestic affairs" (Hu).
 Tang 3

Many scholars believe that the social acceptance of Zhu's theory symbolizes a transition

from the equal Tang dynasty to the later oppressions towards women, such as foot

binding. Zhu's philosophy still has a significant impact on modern-day China.

However, unlike many Chinese philosophers who believe in "lack of talent in a

woman is a virtue," Zhu praised the women who learned how to read. He thought that

everyone, regardless of gender, should read and learn the Confucian masterpieces. He

claimed that "education towards women would benefit the children because women are

responsible for children's early education" (Hu).

Beauvoir, a modern philosopher that has a tremendous impact on the feministic

movements, held different opinions about gender inequality comparing with Aristotle,

Plato, and Zhu. Rather than believing in women as "incomplete men" who lack the

virtue and strength that men have, Beauvoir separated the idea of gender and sex. "One

is not born a woman, but, rather, becomes one," She said (Butler). Beauvoir believed

that the idea of "men" and "women" is socially constructed, which means that the

stereotypical differences between men and women are formed mainly due to the

differences in the social norm and social expectations for men and women, but not the

biological sex. Beauvoir lived in 20th century France, where had already influenced by

the early feminist ideas, such as universal suffrage, so the environment she lived in also

affected her views.

Besides, another theory that Beauvoir held was that women are "Others" in

society. More specifically, she believed that the entire society is built on a patriarchal

hierarchy that considers men as the subject while treating women as "Others," people
 Tang 4

who are not a part of the subject. This theory does reflect many situations and

phenomenon in the society. For example, some female doctors and nurses working at

the hospitals fighting against coronavirus in Wuhan reported that the minimum size of

protection suit they received is 160 cm, which is higher than the average height for

Chinese women, 157cm, while the average height for men was 162cm. Many female

medical workers have to wear oversize protection suits that make them harder to move

around. This example supports Beauvoir's theory of "Others" by revealing that the size

for protection suit based on the height of men, and female medical workers' needs were

not considered at all.

In conclusion, by looking at Aristotle, Plato, Zhu, and Beauvoir's theories, it is

evident that the social environments influenced philosophers' thoughts on gender

inequality, and their ideas and opinions also shaped the society they lived in turn.
 Tang 5

Bibliography

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge,

Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.

Beauvoir, Simone de, et al. The Second Sex. Vintage Books, 2015.

Hu, Rongming. “朱熹视野中的官宦家族女性——以朱熹撰写的女子墓志铭为中

心.” News.guoxue.com, 2009, news.guoxue.com/article.php?articleid=20411.

Smith, Nicholas. “Plato's Views of Gender Equality.” SchoolWorkHelper, 1983,

schoolworkhelper.net/platos-views-of-gender-equality/.

Witt, Charlotte, and Lisa Shapiro. “Feminist History of Philosophy.” Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 3 Nov. 2000,

plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/feminism-femhist/.

Young, Stephen. “Judith Butler: Performativity.” Critical Legal Thinking, 13 Nov. 2016,

criticallegalthinking.com/2016/11/14/judith-butlers-performativity/.

混沌大陆 . “对不起，我们设计医护人员防护服的时候没考虑女性.” Guancha.com,

2020, user.guancha.cn/main/content?id=258118&s=fwzxfbbt.