In book V, yes, Socrates suggests that men and women should be treated alike with respect to guardianship part of a larger argument in the Republic about the equality of the sexes. However, there is more to it. In order for women to be a part of this guardian class, to fulfill the same roles as men in society, women would need to gain the same knowledge/education, as men. A queen philosopher? But wait? Are women allowed to gain an education? No, women are forbidden to gain an education, can you see the confliction? I think so. Socrates stated, “We have agreed, of course, that different natures must have different pursuits, and that the natures of a woman and a man are different. But we now say that those different natures must have the same
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Within this time, this would seem utterly ridiculous. However, Socrates thinks otherwise, “Socrates: What do you see as the most ridiculous aspect of them [women]? Isn’t it obvious that it is the idea of the women exercising stripped in the palestras alongside the men? 114 And not just the young women, but the older ones too—like {314} the old men we see in gymnasiums who, even though their bodies [ b ] are wrinkled and not pleasant to look at, still love physical training. Glaucon: Yes, by Zeus, that would look really ridiculous, at least under present conditions” (Republic; Book V, Page 328). In simpler terms, it once was ridiculous, for men to work out in the nude. According to Socrates, when keeping this in mind, men working out in the nude, women should too should have the ability to work out, alongside men, in the nude. When the benefits of anything, including the example above, are beneficial, they seem less and less, as Socrates puts it, ridiculous. “…those who employed these practices, that it was better to strip than to cover up all such parts, the laughter in the eyes faded away because of what the arguments had proved to be best. And this showed that it is a fool who finds anything ridiculous except what is bad, or tries to raise a laugh at the sight of anything except what is stupid or bad…” (Republic; Book V, Page
Within this time, this would seem utterly ridiculous. However, Socrates thinks otherwise, “Socrates: What do you see as the most ridiculous aspect of them [women]? Isn’t it obvious that it is the idea of the women exercising stripped in the palestras alongside the men? 114 And not just the young women, but the older ones too—like {314} the old men we see in gymnasiums who, even though their bodies [ b ] are wrinkled and not pleasant to look at, still love physical training. Glaucon: Yes, by Zeus, that would look really ridiculous, at least under present conditions” (Republic; Book V, Page 328). In simpler terms, it once was ridiculous, for men to work out in the nude. According to Socrates, when keeping this in mind, men working out in the nude, women should too should have the ability to work out, alongside men, in the nude. When the benefits of anything, including the example above, are beneficial, they seem less and less, as Socrates puts it, ridiculous. “…those who employed these practices, that it was better to strip than to cover up all such parts, the laughter in the eyes faded away because of what the arguments had proved to be best. And this showed that it is a fool who finds anything ridiculous except what is bad, or tries to raise a laugh at the sight of anything except what is stupid or bad…” (Republic; Book V, Page