Analysis Of Sophie By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Throughout the reading of Sophie, Jean-Jacques Rousseau claims to attempt to illustrate the similarity and difference between men and women 's education and nature. It is difficult to ascertain exactly what comparisons between the sexes Rousseau is trying to make as he repeatedly claims to men and women being equal, and then contradicts this immediately after by making his assertions that they are nothing alike. The entire reading is juxtaposed in a way that the main point Rousseau is trying to make becomes obfuscated and almost meaningless. It is left to shoddy speculation and overgeneralization on his part and not by any analytical evidence, which he claims is solely men 's sphere. I will be examining Rousseau 's theories about the sexes …show more content…
For men he recommends that they explore and think on a large scale and for women he recommends that they think and live through the men in their lives and that they are to think domestically; to be educated to run a household, raise their children and obey their husbands. He claims that these differences in education are caused solely by the individuals ' "nature". Rousseau takes the view that certain traits are only biologically determined and hints that they may be social, but never elaborates on it. To understand this concept more fully though we need to delve into what Rousseau initially meant by sex because the definition has changed over time where sex now seems to only refer to the biology and gender is used to refer more to the psychological …show more content…
For men it is strength, women it 's their "charms" though these traits are not confined to one sex. To him, charm becomes a skill for men to grow their strength, and women need strength to help their grace. It is not clearly defined by Rousseau what the parameters are for a trait to qualify falling within or without sex. In the reading he gives vague, general ideas that men and women are similar like the example above educating the body first, but in-depth he shows that the processes for each is different. At first, the only difference is in sex, then he writes men and women are different in both character and temperament. He seems to associate everything in his arguments as a sex-based difference, though he claims not to, but it is indeterminate to say with certainty because no criteria was given and even today theories on this subject are still