ABSTRACT
As discussed in earlier chapters, Magnesian women have an unparalleled status in their society. Yet they are constrained in particular ways. Their status stands in contrast to the state-mandated necessity of teknopoiia. In addition to this, they will be encouraged to modifY their femininity by subordinating certain perceived negative aspects of it to the rule of orderly, manly Reason. How is this 'new femininity' defined for Magnesian women? This chapter proceeds from the assumption of contemporary philosophical thought to the effect that 'male, like female, is an idea about sex ... to say that male-ness is "absence of female-ness," or vice versa, is a matter of definition and metaphysically arbitrary'.4 Plato's narrator is no stranger to metaphysical arbitration in the sphere of sexual ideas.
