09 December 2009

The Second Sex



[Aristotle] thought he could prove scientifically that women's bodies and women's minds ('souls' as he called them) were categorically, naturally, that is unalterably, inferior to men's. Women were, in other words, the second sex in the fullest sense: physically, they were deformed males, and intellectually, they lacked the capacity to make their reasoning powers, such as they were, authoritative.

~Paul Cartledge
The Spartans

*emphasis mine, because it's funny.


What are some other interesting beliefs of the past that have been proven false in the present?
Posted by Trisha at 6:53 AM
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5 comments:

  1. Aristotle also believed that the brain had no purpose except to serve as a sort of air conditioner. :-P I guess the great thinker was wrong about a LOT of things.
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  2. I thought once upon a time that we believed that the male determined the sex of children. I thought I heard rumblings that this had been disproven but I am not sure/didn't follow up.

    At least we know that Pluto is not a planet. Whatever that means or might not mean in the future. :-)
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  3. Steph - I guess we tend to focus on the things our thinkers got right instead of the glaringly obvious falsehoods they promoted.

    Nicole - Hmm..I'm not sure. And I refuse to accept the whole Pluto isn't a planet idea. Poor Pluto, being demoted like that...
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  4. Funny and sad. And I don't care what they say - Pluto is a planet!
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  5. Stacy - I'm with you! We should start a support group!
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