Prompt 2

Jasmyn Burks

Mrs. Welhelmus

AP English Language

8 August 2013

Battle of the Sexes

      Gender roles have been a conflict for many generations, and women did not get the good end of the stick. Women were considered housewives and objects who only raised children and did chores. When I read Aristotle's view on women, I was not surprised. Aristotle was raised in an era where men were more superior than women. As a result, he was influenced to think that women were an “unfinished man,” as he put it. It may seem that Aristotle was an intelligent man, but when it came to gender roles, he was wrong.

      God made men and women equal, and never “unfinished” anything. God made everything with a purpose, so men and women were both put on Earth, yes in different ways, but are both important. It seemed that Aristotle was unfamiliar with the reproductive system and how genes work. It is sad that Aristotle had so much influence on the church and the Middle Ages, there could have been a lot of better changes in the world if women were given more independence.

      In my opinion, Plato's view on women was more admirable. Plato believes that women have the same opportunity as men do in this world and thinks that women should be taught the same things as men do. Plato believes that men and women have the same nature, and even though Plato thinks that most women are weaker in the physical state, he believes that men and women could have the same mental abilities.

      In Sophie’s World, majority of the philosophers Alberto talked about were men. As I said before, this was not so surprising, men were more privileged during this era. There was not many women philosophers in this time period, and if there was, they were not acknowledged the way men were. Men were considered more intelligent and had better insight on the world than women did. Men considered women to think more on their opinions and feelings rather than reason. So, because of this, women were better suited in the house with children than in the real world with men.