The One-Sex Model: The Role Of Women In Athenian Society

Another one of the popular theories that have affected the role for women in Athenian society is the “the one-sex model”. The definition of the “one-sex model” is that women aren’t a totally different kind of being from men; rather, they are weaker/inferior versions of men (still thought of as colder and moister). They were not thought of has two distinct sexes but rather as one sex and that modified version of that sex. In Aristotle, Generation of Animals, it is stated, “A boy’s shape resembles a woman’s, and a woman is like an infertile male; in fact, a creature is female as a result of a disability: not being able to cook the nourishment in its final state... into semen, because of the coldness of its nature….This is because the female is like a deformed male, and menstrual discharge is semen, but in an impure state” (Koenig). This biological concept bears the idea that women are “disabled”, imperfect versions of men which again further contributes to the notion that men are greater and more powerful than women. …show more content…
Women were thought as “weaker” and therefore needed the male’s help. In the beginning, the woman would serve her father and eventually serve her husband. The “one sex model” could explain why high-status Athenian women would marry in their mid-teens (14-15 years old), their husband being on average in his early 30s (for a first marriage). The husband is much older than his wife because since Athenian society sees women as “disable” due to “one sex model”, women are required to be under the guidance of their husbands who are deemed as more “capable” or “wiser”. Here, this is an example of how “one sex model” influences the way women’s roles are in Classical