Aristotle, a renowned ancient Greek philosopher, is celebrated as a founding figure of Western philosophy and one of history’s most influential thinkers. Considered the founder of logic, he is known for his contributions to a diverse array of subjects, including biology, politics, and physics. However, overshadowed at the same time are his ideas about women, which reflect views deemed as misogynistic by modern standards—marked by hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against women, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.[1] This essay aims to shed light on aspects of Aristotle’s stereotypical framings of women that might have influenced gender conceptions and biases in the years to come.
While Aristotle made many claims about women’s inferiority, two are particularly noteworthy. First, Aristotle claimed that women are biologically inferior. He asserted that women’s menstruation is an impure form of semen, the latter of which he regarded as the carrier of the soul. Stating, “The female is as it were a deformed male; and the menstrual discharge is semen, though in an impure condition; i.e., it lacks one constituent, and one only, the principle of Soul,” Aristotle presupposes that semen is a higher-ranked biological process and the primary instigator of human life, thereby being superior to menstruation.[2] Aristotle’s biologically inaccurate statement carries his prejudice and bias against women, which is particularly striking and alarming, considering that his work had a powerful influence on biology and medicine for more than two thousand years.[3]
Aristotle’s second noteworthy claim about women’s supposed inferiority extends beyond biology and into gender norms, social dynamics, and political participation. He made the broad claim that men are naturally suited to take charge, stating: “For although there may be exceptions to the order of nature, the male is by nature fitter for command than the female, just as the elder and full-grown is superior to the younger and more immature.”[4] His further assertion, “All classes must be deemed to have their special attributes; as the poet says of women, ‘Silence is a woman’s glory,’ but this is not equally the glory of man,” implies that women’s ideal state of being is the absence of voice, an existence where men are the speakers and decision-makers and women are passive recipients.[5] Aristotle made various additional claims about women that reflected ingrained biases, including but not limited to claims that women are more emotional, jealous, contentious, and subject to depression of spirits and despair.[6]
One might be inclined to cast Aristotle’s ideas as reflections of the patriarchal systems present in Ancient Greece when he formulated them. In other words, it might be easy to conclude that he was a product of the time and the context in which he lived. However, the fact that not all ancient Greek intellectuals demonstrated similar misogynistic thinking challenges this reductionist interpretation. In the Republic, for example, Plato—Aristotle’s teacher—argues that the roles of city management should be distributed based on natural capabilities instead of gender:
There is no pursuit relevant to the management of the city that belongs to a woman because she is a woman, or to a man because he is a man; but the various natural capacities are distributed in a similar way between both creatures, and women can share by nature in every pursuit, and men in every one, though for the purposes of all of them women are weaker than men.[7]
Plato does not reflect the Aristotelian conception of women as naturally inferior. Instead, he supports the education of women in music, gymnastics, philosophy, and physical training, seeking to maximize their unique talents in service of the state. Notwithstanding his occasionally pejorative characterizations of women as “promiscuous” and “crude,” which seemingly contradict his anti-suppressive sentiments, it is clear that not all philosophers fully reflected the norms of their social context. The fact that some challenged views on women, even inconsistently, demonstrates that breaking free from societal conventions was and is possible.
Philosophy and science offer opportunities to explore truth and remediate our thinking. Reflecting and reinforcing the status quo is a dangerous barrier to that pursuit. Aristotle’s words have influenced centuries of Western thought, fundamentally shaping the core ideas of many subjects. What we may not fully understand is the sexism and misogyny that existed alongside these ideas and how they may persist today.
Feminist scholars have been calling out these misogynist patterns of thought and how they have persisted through centuries and continue to exist today. For example, in her highly influential book In a Different Voice, feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan demonstrated how women have been systematically misunderstood and misrepresented in social science, including their abilities, motives, and morality.[8] In her book Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong, author Angela Saini explores how gender bias in science is an obstacle to scientific inquiry and development.[9] The 2023 book Eve by Cat Bohannon challenges long-held myths about the female body.[10] These are just a few examples. Feminist scholars across disciplines are calling out how women have been, and too often continue to be, regarded as inferior to men.
The echoes of Aristotle’s words are loud. As the saying goes, “Old habits die hard.” Aristotle and other influential philosophers lived over 2,000 years ago, and we are still trying to view women with a clear lens.
[1] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “misogyny,” accessed November 25, 2025, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misogyny.
[2] Aristotle, Generation of Animals, trans. Arthur L. Peck (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1943), 175.
[3] Peter M. Dunn, “Aristotle (384–322 BC): Philosopher and Scientist of Ancient Greece,” National Library of Medicine, last modified January 2006, accessed February 22, 2026, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2672651/.
[4] Aristotle, Aristotle’s Politics, trans. Benjamin Jowett (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1920), 49.
[5] Aristotle, Aristotle’s Politics, 52.
[6] Aristotle, Aristotle’s History of Animals, trans. Richard Cresswell (London: William Clowes, 1887), 231, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59058/59058-h/59058-h.htm.
[7] Plato, Plato: Republic, trans. Charles D. C. Reeve (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004), 144.
[8] Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016).
[9] Angela Saini, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story (Boston: Beacon Press, 2018).
[10] Cat Bohannon, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (New York City: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023).
Bibliography
Amadio, A. H., Kenny, A. J. “Aristotle.” Encyclopedia Britannica, February 6, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle.
Aristotle. Aristotle’s History of Animals. Translated by Richard Cresswell. London: William Clowes, 1887. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59058/59058-h/59058-h.htm.
Aristotle. Generation of Animals. Translated by Arthur L. Peck. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1943.
Aristotle. Aristotle’s Politics. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1920.
Bohannon, Cat. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.
Dunn, Peter M. "Aristotle (384–322 BC): Philosopher and Scientist of Ancient Greece." National Library of Medicine. Last modified January 2006. Accessed February 22, 2026. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2672651/.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “misogyny,” accessed November 7, 2025, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misogyny.
Plato. Plato: Republic. Translated by Charles D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004.
Saini, Angela. Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.
