Plato the Original Feminist or the Original Reali Essays

Plato: the Original Feminist or the Original Realist Plato is one of the first and one of the only theorists to suggest the idea that women should be educated together with men and should be allowed to hold any position in the state, including serving in the military or as rulers. For his time, more than 2000 years ago, that was a radical idea. When questioned on the practicality of this idea he stated that "if the question is how to render a woman fit for the office of guardian, we shall not have one education for men, and another for women, especially as the nature affected is the same in both cases" (Plato 88). While Plato starts off on the right foot, it often feels as though he continually makes exclusions to this theory. Was Plato really an early feminist, or was he just trying to be practical? Did he want women to have an equal share in his utopia or was he just trying to get everyone on board? While Plato does believe women have the knowledge to be equal with men, they will constantly fall below them because they lack capa bility. In our modern day debate over gender equality, the issue of biological differences always comes up. The argument is given that because women are inherently different in their makeup that they are limited or incapable of doing certain tasks. But to quote from another theorist: "Men have been submitted to superior strength to enjoy with impunity the pleasure of the moment-- women have only done the same, and therefore till it is proved that the courtier, who servilely resigns the birthright of a man, is not a moral agent, it cannot be demonstrated that woman is essentially inferior to man because she has always been subjugated" (Wollstonecraft 107). Back then and still today, people believe that the inherent differences between genders should be the reasoning behind our labeled social standings. Plato does defend women in that he noted that physical differences are not universal; for example, although it may be true that most men are taller than most women, there are certainly some women who are taller than many men. What is more, he denied that there is any systematic difference between men and women with respect to the abilities relevant to guardianshipthe capacity to understand reality and make reasonable judgments about it. But while Plato is championing women's equality in some aspects, we can not conclude that he is a feminist for he still disparages women by stressing their inadequacies. He believes that women are more likely to fall to their desires and therefore are weaker in spirit. It is very hard to make progress when you are degrading the exact thing that you are trying to raise up. Plato was a man of realism and practicality. All of his choices and ideas for his utopian society revolved around what would benefit the most people and create the most good. He did not think about happiness on an individual level, but rather in a group mentality. And with that mentality, he realized that it would be most advantageous for him if he were to not is olate half the population. He probably assumed that there would be some women that would be helpful to society, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to give them the opportunities to prove themselves. Plato believed that women were likely to be emotional and listen to their desires thereby making them unreliable beyond the role of guardian. "...they will receive lighter duties than the men, because of the weakness of their sex." While Plato saw the potential for women to be equals with men, he just didn't see them ever being as able as men. But modern day scientists don't agree. In a study done by Harvard Men's Health Watch, studies showed that: "In medical terms, men are the weaker sex, Why? It depends on a complex mix of biological, social, and behavioral factors. Biological factors include the fact that, compared with men, women have substantially higher levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, which protects against heart disease. In addition, excess weight although common in both sexesis mo re of a problem for males.