ABSTRACT
Philosophers in the Aristotelian tradition argued for a kind of gender essentialism: women were inferior to men because their bodily traits prevent them from having certain moral and intellectual virtues possessed by men. This chapter examines how Italian philosophers (both men and women) argued against Aristotelian gender essentialism in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, tracing the development from arguments that focused primarily on physical characteristics to those which focused on social conditions. Some philosophers, such as Galeazzo Capra, Magnifico Iuliano, Camilla Gregetta Erculiani, and Maria Gondola used the tenets of Aristotle’s own metaphysics to argue for the opposite conclusion: the traits that appear to make women inferior actually make women superior to men. Another philosopher, Moderata Fonte, embraces this tradition, but also points to the issue of women’s lack of education and lack of economic power. Finally, the chapter examines Lucrezia Marinelli’s arguments for women’s superiority, which challenge the assumptions of gender essentialism and examine the role of social conditions.
