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1477 | Being manly and brave is the result of convention, not of human nature [Plutarch] |
Full Idea: Manliness is not a natural human attribute, otherwise women would be just as brave. It is due to pressure from laws, and this pressure has no free will, but is a slave of convention and criticism. | |
From: Plutarch (64: Gryllus - on Rationality in Animals [c.85], 988c) | |
A reaction: This is the first glimmerings of seeing gender as a cultural creation, rather than as a fact. Presumably he takes the same view of some of the supposed feminine virtues. |