In this dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, who was Plato’s older brother and also one of Socrates’ students, they discuss a utopian society. For a philosopher born and raised in an ancient society, he surely put women on a higher pedestal than others would in this time period. For example, he acknowledges that although women and men have different natures, both sexes have the same capabilities. In his utopia, women and men will be educated and trained alongside each other and can take on the same guardian roles as the other sex. For example, he states “Men and women alike possess the qualities which make a guardian; they differ only in their comparative strength and weakness.” That doesn’t mean that a woman is weaker than man. Rather, I believe Socrates means that one woman can be weak in a certain area while another woman is strong in that area of expertise, which would give that female an advantage. However there is one section of the excerpt that I was skeptical of.
“And can you mention any pursuit of mankind in which the male sex has not all these gifts and qualities in a higher degree than the female? Need I waste time in the art of weaving, and the management of pancakes and preserves, in which womankind does really appear to be great..”
Although I believe Socrates was attempting to compliment a woman on her capabilities, these “strengths” he listed are very cliché of what people expect of females. Cooking and clothes making aren’t the only things that woman are “naturally” strong at.
feminist dystopias 
I really liked your response to this. I agree with a lot of your points. I like the way you try to see Socrates’ side of things or make his statements more positive than they seemed. I don’t think he always meant to say offensive things about women, though it came off that way, and you did a good job pointing that out.
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I totally agree with you on how Socrates came off on sounding extremely cliché and stuck on a very stereotypical tone on how he viewed women. There were a lot of great points covered in Plato’s republic and I like how you acknowledged that, while also establishing you’re view of the excerpt.
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The best part of your response was the last paragraph when you said Socrates was attempting to compliment a woman on her capabilities, these “strengths” he listed are very cliché of what people expect of females. Cooking and clothes making aren’t the only things that woman are “naturally” strong at. Woman aren’t so fragile and are solely made just to watch over children in a household. Some woman do more things then men could ever do.
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I agree with Jenn that the last paragraph was the best as well as that the fact that he stereotyped a woman’s strengths are in the house. There are physical attributes that make men and women different, but their strengths are based on an individual level and thats where Plato went wrong when he started stereotyping.
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