Girls run the world - Plutarch
The name of this week's module was Run the World. girls period it looked at Plutarch's claim of men and women having similar virtues. In the introduction Plutarch made a claim that he was going to express the ways in which men and women both exhibit similar virtues and the way in which these virtues cannot be differentiated. how does Pluto make his case? Does he follow his plan or does he deviate? How do female protagonists come to power? What qualities or actions does he praise as virtues. what are the consequences of those actions for women? What kind of men populate Plutarch's stories and how do they highlight women's virtues? we were also asked about the connections between Manliness womanliness and success as a leader? and lastly how should we situate Plutarch in modern discussions about feminism.
Plutarch States that man's virtues and women's virtues all one and the same. Yet he agrees with Gorgies to say that a woman fame and not her form should be well known. he compares artistic works of paintings and poems by men and women. their skills and intelligence. So too, He says that their lives and actions are comparable side-by-side like the actions between two men weather acts of Bravery, wisdom all Justice.
he first claimed to make his case by bringing to mention the notable acts of women, either by themselves or in tandem with other woman. why does Plutarch State this? Does this then mean that the prevailing attitudes of that time may have been that if a man and woman were to perform virtuous act together it would be granted that the man did influence the woman and took the lead. the woman may have been looked upon as following the man and not necessarily as orchestrating the act. It almost seems Back to ensure that certainty of the woman performing the ACT that she would have to perform it herself or with other woman and fully apart from men. Pluto approaches the subject with caution saying, “it may not be a bad idea to sit down first a brief account of these commonly known,” needs of women.
The Trojan women took serious initiative by burning the ships. This presented a great risk. they were in flee from war and in an uncertain line, not knowing the inhabitants to be hostile or not they burned their ships, their only form of Transport or Escape. the woman leader responsible for this Roma was honored at the founding of Italy, the capital was named after her.
The woman of Chios word said to have taught courage to the men by telling them to answer their enemies that, “the spare serves as a cloak, and the shield as a shirt, to a man of spirit.” although their husbands had already signed a treaty with the Eurythraeans, stating that they could only leave with cloak and shirt. I don't think the women taught the men of Chios Bravery but give them back their dignity even in the face of defeat, winning them the respect of their enemies.
Wednesday 11-2pm Private study
The women of Melos were admired for the silence in the plot against Cariaus and their bravery in carrying the swords of their husbands all relatives. the maiden Caphene was wed to Nymphaeus and “received the honor and gratitude merited her valuable services.”
The Lycian women showed their power in two distinct ways.The first act was the completed by the women who went to meet Bellerophon, and by pulling up their garments in front of him caused him to retreat in shame, and with him the tide retreated. The second act was in their ability to show and beseech with respect. These two acts, the sexuality of women as a shaming feature to men and their gentleness and ability to subdue anger represent the power of women in this story. A power that men don't possess. These women were given the honor of having their sons carry their names instead of the names of their husbands (as was accustomed).
With the story of the women of Salmantica, we see that the same principles are applicable today. Their sexuality as something shameful is something that is still present in our current society. Women who wear very short clothes still evoke gossip and backlash and most men are timid to look at them in fear of being perceived as "staring." The same shame applies for searching women. Men don't want to appear to be doing more than is necessary so may need a woman to search women.
Another womanly virtue that was observed in these stories was in a woman's monogamy, such as in the case of the women of Ceos. In their case, there was no such case of adultery or seduction for 700 years. I wonder why this virtue was attributed to the women and not the men? what does this say about the men of Ceos? And why does Plutarch not mention when a case of adultery did come up?
Plutarch moved from the collective virtue of women to specific acts by singular women. Pieria was praised for bringing an end to the war between Miletus and Myus. Women were frequently observed by Plutarch as being able to subdue a man's anger and pride. However in Step 5 we can see that Plutarch's problem became how to approve the brave woman without also approving the manly woman. He accomplishes this circumvention by stripping the episodes he details of explicit commentary. "No specific virtue is ever identified and the woman's actions are simply, self-evidently and generically virtuous." Plutarch sets out to compare men and women on the parameters of their magnificence, intelligence and high-mindedness. But no such comparison is made. Instead these brave and virtuous acts by women compound a restrictive and traditional understanding of their strengths. In Politics Aristotle postulated that men were judged on the bravery of women. Wen were their yardstick. Men were considered cowards if their bravery extended as much as a manly woman's. That men should surpass a woman in this virtue of bravery was to constitute being a proper man. Following this reasoning, nothing was more threatening to a man than and his constructed social order than a "woman who walked, talked and fought like a man." I think this is because it raised the bar on the virtues required to be considered a proper man, because he was judged on his abilities to outdo women.
The virtuous woman or virtuous man seemed the natural in Greek culture while the manly woman (and I suspect the womanly man) is unnatural. I see this exemplified in the male ego. Women were considered brave on one hand in the sense that cowardice could not bring them to commit adultery. On the other hand men were inclined to have multiple sexual partners, for them this was considered a sign of virility and prowess. This virtue when extended to women was considered disgraceful. A woman having multiple sexual partners would be considered maybe too much of a manly woman? The line drawn is uncertain.
In another instance, I looked at the situation with Lucretia. Her death (suicide) was considered virtuous, in that she could not bear the shame and disgrace her rape would bring upon her. Her death set in motion the acts that would lead to Tarquin's downfall. This was considered a natural thing, suicide. However I suppose that if Lucretia had decided to challenge the prince to a duel in fair combat and had defeated him by the sword, this would have been a questionable act indeed and probably would have been considered the act of a manly woman. A woman too outside of what was considered womanly recourse. Instead secrecy, trickery, lies, abuse, concealment and the occasional burst of impulsive action are the spheres in which female virtue operate.
Classroom Tuesday 11/22 9:40-11am
It is clear that despite Plutarch's attempt at consolidating the virtues of men and women as one and the same, he is unsuccessful. His attempt only further illustrates how women's virtues are ambiguous and separate from men's. This ambiguity about women's virtue have less to do with ethical decisions and more with the value of maintaining the male status quo of good social order. Women kept within the confines of what was considered normal and acceptable in the society of that day. I agree with this conclusion, and its correctness is somewhat evident in the disparate stories related by Plutarch. They follow no clear lines of reasoning. The very composition of these stories demonstrate Plutarch's bias toward women's virtues and reflect the shared perception of men's thoughts towards women's power as being central to their sexuality, entreaties and secretiveness.
this is why in class we discussed the questions: 1). A woman who is not into sex or a mother, can they have good leadership? and 2). Would it be considered female leadership or simply leadership?
The vocabulary when we speak of leadership versus female leadership illustrates that gender still matters in virtues between men and women and that Plutarch was not alone in his failed attempt to combine the two virtues. The issue is still relevant today.