Stoicism and Feminism
Does Stoic philosophy symbolise women’s equality?
When thinking about Feminism, we think about levelling the playing field for all genders, and we rarely go back to antiquity for much inspiration. From what we know about the ancient civilisations, we can tell there were rigid gender norms. By in large there were two genders, and each had their duties; men receiving an education, making a living, owning property and providing for his family, with a woman’s place usually confined to the domestic sphere. There were exceptions to this rule, however, and some did challenge these barriers to women, especially when it came to receiving an education.
We have made massive social and cultural strides since antiquity, therefore it is important to take everything the Stoics say with a grain of salt, after all, more than 2000 years have passed. Ostensibly, almost every contemporary philosopher or historian would have (by our standards today) been slightly misogynistic, this is not because they were bad people or wrong, equality was simply not in their trajectory considering the greater context of the time.
Whilst there are few direct references to the treatment of women and their role in society by the male Stoics, we can still take a look at female Stoics past and present, and analyse whether or not Stoic teachings can be applied to all genders.
And still more true is it that the daughter of Cato was deficient neither in prudence nor courage
—Plutarch
The most famous female ancient Stoic: Porcia Cato
Born in between 70–64 BCE, to parents Cato the Younger and his first wife, Atila. Porcia is known as the first female Stoic, a title bestowed by Plutarch, who recorded the most information about her.
In general, the information disclosed about Porcia was in relation to her father and her second husband, Marcus Junius Brutus, (one of the men responsible for Julius Caesar’s assassination). Following in her famed father’s footsteps, she developed an interest in philosophy, she was a contemporary of Posidonius of Rhodes and Cicero.
With what we gather about her through those accounts, she was an independent, daring and interesting person, whom loved fiercely. Her marriage to Brutus could even be seen as an example of Stoic practice in that they had to withstand a lot of obstacles, but weathered through the storm. Their union was highly controversial and their political affiliations were dangerous, however, their love, devotion and resilience kept them together.
Her Stoic-like actions can be learned from today, for example Porcia “practiced hardship” by repeatedly plunging a dagger into her thigh to prove to Brutus that she could withstand pain and suffering to stand up for the causes she believed in. This is highly inadvisable and there are other, much safer ways to use this Stoic practice.
From what little is recorded of Porcia, we can see that she definitely had a great interest in Philosophy. There are no direct sources stating that she favoured the Stoic school over other schools of thought, but her actions and the glimpses into her mindset does mirror that of the Stoics. Due to such a lack of information recorded about her in her own right, we don’t really know for sure whether she considered herself to be a Stoic.
Other Stoics on feminism
Despite living throughout antiquity, a number of the Stoics did share in the notion of some equality between men and women. Zeno the founder of the School himself, echoed the sentiment of Plato’s Republic of an ideal society whereby men and women had equal opportunity.
It is reported that Seneca, adviser to Emperor Nero, wrote his mother an apology that his father forbade her to study philosophy. His reasoning for that being that women have the same intellectual ability as men and they should have the prerogative to understand the difference between right and wrong through the study of ethics. Epictetus was also known for challenging his contemporaries and criticising them for objectifying women and only placing value on their physical attractiveness.
Women as well as men … have received from the gods the gift of reason, which we use in our dealings with one another and by which we judge whether a thing is good or bad, right or wrong.
— Gaius Musonius Rufus
But it should be noted that Gaius Musonius Rufus (c.25AD- c.95AD) was perhaps the most liberal when it came to the equality of women. Using the four cardinal virtues of Stoicism — wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance to argue the importance of education amongst women, especially when it so heavily encouraged with men and seen as a necessity. He advocated for young women learning ways how to live a good and fulfilling life.
These men, however, were a product of their time. There were no real strides with Feminism in the development of Western thought (which is why feminists of the 19th and 20th Century had to work so hard). These men were not campaigning for equality, nor did they really see a woman’s role surpass that of a mother and homemaker. They did share womanly ideals of modesty and delicateness, and ‘womanly’ tasks as being beneath the actions of males, however, they did believe that they had the same intellectual intelligence and right to education on how to live in accordance to their ethics.
Modern female Stoics
What we want is a protean, adaptive, and evolving Stoicism.
— Sharon Lebell
Fast forwarding to the western world in the 21st Century- we see a vast rise in women’s literacy rates, social and political mobility, and the so-called “woman’s place” has become wherever she wants. Although, there are still some systemic limitations and stubborn attitudes remaining today, we have come along leaps and bounds.
Since the time of the largely male ancient Stoics, we have seen a sharp incline in the amount of female academics, and Stoicism is no exception. Modern female Stoics have brought fresh perspectives onto Stoicism, piecing together the male-only metaphors and reading between the lines of the more male-centric core teachings.
Some great modern female Stoics, who we can all learn a lot from include, (but are not limited to) Sharon Lebell; Nancy Sherman; Kathryn Koromilas; and Brittany Polat to name a few. It is also important to remember other Feminist philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft. Who had a prolific career as a writer and woman’s right activist, she was very influenced by Stoicism and in her activism mirrored Musionius Rufus’ sentiment that everyone has the capacity to learn how to act through reason and morals.
Final thoughts
There are vast limitations when it comes to the surviving sources and information from the ancient societies that so much of daily life is omitted, especially when it comes to female narrative. History is dictated by the contemporary academics and core primary sources, and that means the overwhelming majority of historical documents are written by and for males.
Despite the use of some metaphors and anecdotes, specific to males in the core teachings of Stoicism, there are few male-only lessons in Stoicism. It is important to remember that many ancient philosophers such as Plato, Seneca, Musonius Rufus and Epictetus, all agreed that women had the same intellectual ability as their male counterparts and deserved a right to education of the virtues.
Most lessons in Stoicism are by nature completely egalitarian, albeit the examples used in Antiquity were referring more to social mobility and not in terms of females, but whether that’s a deliberate omission of Womens’ voices and experiences, or a simple oversight remains to be seen.
I do think it is important to note that there is no real binary when it comes to male Stoicism or female Stoicism, it is clear from the core texts that there is no place for misogyny under the guise of Stoicism, and any attempt is simply a misunderstanding of the text. All Stoic practices can be learned about and implemented regardless of gender expression, socio-economic position, and academic ability.
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