Plato, Gender Equality and Feminism: Connections and Contradictions

Abstract

Plato's classification as a feminist is a subject of intense debate, primarily due to his contradictory portrayal of women in his works. In the “Republic”, he proposes women's inclusion as part of the guardian class, unlike philosophers of his time, which has earned him some favor as someone who believes in gender equality and feminism. Despite acknowledging women's ability to perform roles like those of men in the ideal city, Plato portrayed women as inferior to men in his other dialogues, leaving him in a confusing position. Given the patriarchal, exclusive political structures of his time, the issue of his being someone with feminist leanings still begs a question. Although there is a wealth of literature on Plato’s stance on women's equality, it is challenging to make a conclusive case for Plato’s feminism. This paper systematically reviews the academic scholarship that directly contributes to the discussion and argues that Plato’s position of gender equality is nuanced and unclear, so it is a challenge to assert that Plato championed women's rights definitively. Plato seems to create a space for women’s nature in the political domain, provided they are adequately trained, like men, to perform the roles of governance, warfare, and guarding in his republic. In hindsight, his views were limited and did not challenge the prevailing patriarchal ideology.