Alanna McLeod

Response to "Women as Undeveloped Men" by Caitlin Coomes

As Coomes presents in her paper, women in ancient Greek society were thought to be an inferior form of man–a view supported by medical hypotheses of the time, including those of Aristotle and Hippocrates. Observed physical differences between the sexes are mirrored in the different social statuses assigned to males and females: as women were thought to be inadequate men and equitable to children, women, consequently, were given less authority and freedom in society at large.

I agree with Coomes’s argument and would like to expand this view by discussing how women were believed to be naturally disposed to disorder, which could only be overturned by filling the chaotic womb with male semen, and, briefly, how women, like children, were protected and sheltered by men because females were thought to be easily persuaded and corrupted.

It can be inferred from these ancient medical texts that the womb was thought to be the governing organ in the female body: the womb was seen as unstable–shifting, flipping upside-down, contracting–and this instability lead to women’s disorderly physical and mental health. Women’s illnesses were attributed to irregular menstruation and dry, empty wombs. In Diseases of Women Hippocrates states,

Displacement of the womb was considered the cause of much physical distress and Hippocrates’ remedy for this problem was a dampening of the womb through coitus, which would make this organ more difficult to displace. Therefore, the chaos occurring in a female’s body could only be cured by filling her womb with semen, which suggests that men were thought to be stronger and more stable than women as well as in control over female bodily health.

Likewise, an unhealthy, "unhappy" womb was thought to bring about insanity in young females. Hippocrates believed an overabundance of blood in the womb without a place to be released would fill the lungs and heart with blood, leading to sluggishness, numbness, and, ultimately, madness. And he suggested that this hysteria in virgins–seeing visions and becoming murderous and suicidal–could be overcome or prevented by copulation. In On Virgins Hippocrates says,

Once again, a woman’s chaotic state could be overturned by man’s influence. As Coomes displayed in her paper, these medical theories portray men as dominant and women as frail and instable, which, as Coomes wrote, "attempt to explain the patriarchal hierarchy of Grecian society that severely limited women’s rights and viewed them as second class citizens."

Coomes also noted the comparison between women and children that is suggested in the medical texts: according to Aristotle, neither women nor children secrete seminal fluid or generate offspring. Males, being of the prevailing gender, held power over both children and females–especially young girls. As I discussed in my paper, "Filling Vessels, Fulfilling Gender Roles," women, the weaker sex, and children, while considered physically similar, were also considered to have similar characters. Both were believed to lack strength of mind, and, therefore, to succumb easily to persuasion, consequently being easily corrupted. So fathers felt it necessary to shelter and protect their daughters within the household–keeping them naïve, pure, and uneducated. Women continued to be contained indoors when they entered their husbands’ households, as a corrupt wife would bring about the destruction of her husband’s reputation in society.

The physical superiority assigned to men by the ancient medical texts can be seen both as a cause and as an effect of the patriarchal social structure of classical Greece. On the one hand, if it were popular belief within the society that females were physically inferior to males, this view would undoubtedly be used as clout to create a community run by male-ruled institutions. On the other hand, a male-dominated society would most likely develop male-centered anatomical theories to support and maintain men’s supremacy over women in all realms.