Includes bibliographical references (pages 192-219) and index.
Summary
This book looks at five major beliefs about woman's nature generally accepted by Western philosophers, theologians, and scientists from the classical period to the nineteenth century. These are that: woman is less perfect than man, woman possesses inferior rational capacities, woman has a defective moral sense, man is the primary creative force, and that woman is in need of control.
Contents
I. Between Man and Animal. 1. In the Beginning. 2. The Misbegotten Man -- II. The Weaker Vessel. 3. Not in God's Image. 4. The Less Noble Sex. 5. The Hysteria of Woman -- III. Creativity's Soil. 6. Children of the Gods. 7. The Weaker Seed -- IV. The Beautiful Evil. 8. In Man's Control.