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        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
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        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
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        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
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        • Communicating With Computers
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        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
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        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
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        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
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        • How Leaves Work
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        • Sci-Fi Taser
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        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
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        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
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    • 2013 Publication

REACTION TO LESLEY DEAN JONE'S THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCT OF THE FEMALE BODY IN CLASSICAL GREEK SCIENCE.

Editor’s note: In this paper, Henry M. (‘17) analyses Lesley Dean-Jones’ article, The Cultural Construct of the Female Body in Classical Greek Science.
In the article The Cultural Construct of the Female Body in Classical Greek Science, Lesley Dean-Jones investigates Greek views on bodies and how they use physical characteristics to define societal roles. Jones explains how the Greeks were writing ‘laws’ with the prior belief “ that the female body was inherently inferior to that of the male” (4). She focuses on two Greek theories, the Hippocratic theory and Aristotle's theory, which had differences but both shared the same cultural assumption of inferiority in the female body.

Jones’ analysis of the Hippocratic theory challenges their assumptions and scientific evidence. The Hippocratic theory of bodies was that both sexes started with the same body, which are similar until puberty is hit. Once puberty hits, women have two major changes, menstruation and breasts, both of which are explained by the theory as weaknesses. They believe that female flesh becomes “loose and spongy”, and they are characterized as porous and weak (5). The Hippocratics use the word glands to describe the women’s breasts and argue that the women do nothing but soak up liquid, explaining the development of breasts and how menstruation is the release of that stored up liquid. Jones argues against this by challenging the initial assumption of the Hippocratics, which states that soft flesh of a woman is worse than the firm and compact flesh of a man. The Hippocratic theory also states that the lack of labor would make someone’s flesh soft, which leads Jones to the question of whether a woman could get firmer flesh by working hard (like all female slaves did). This question is unanswered and severely weakens the ‘scientific’ evidence that the Hippocrates are relying upon.

Although Aristotle’s argument differs from the Hippocratic theory in some fundamental ways, it is still challenged just as heavily by Jones. Aristotle was more interested in finding a theory of why and how females were similar and different to men, and his theory took upon some Hippocratic ideas with changes. Aristotle believed that menstruation caused a woman’s body to be weak, which is different than the Hippocratic idea that menstruation is caused by a woman’s weak, porous body. Aristotle believed not that the menstruation was a release of excess matter, but in fact a release of strength that he “attributes a woman’s paleness and deficiency of physique” to (7). Jones does not endorse either of these theories and in her analysis of their cases, questions the validity behind their reasoning. Jones also introduces the ‘wandering womb’, which was a Hippocratic idea that a woman who was not regularly having intercourse could be prone to their womb moving around their body. This belief was started as a scientific discovery to try to explain a prolapsed uterus, which is a real medical condition that existed both for the Greeks and people today. The wandering womb condition was ‘proven’ by the Hippocratic doctors and was “a convenient explanation for various illnesses in a woman’s body…” and “deprived a woman of independent control over her own sexuality” (9). The Hippocratics used this to once again prove how women’s bodies were inferior, and Aristotle, although he does not believe the womb is active, does agree on a few of their points. He believes in the possible shrinking or slight shift in the uterus due to a lack of intercourse and agrees with the smell test method that the Hippocratic doctors used.

​Jones critiques these methods severely by bringing up the lack of evidence that it actually worked and the severe cultural bias that was not being seen by the Greeks. Jones argues that both Aristotle and the Hippocratics seem to make wide sweeping arguments with little to no factual basis to them except as a need to explain something. Jones is convincing in her takedown of the two theories, but spends a long time dissecting the ‘evidence’ of both Greek theories and does not spend a lot of time discussing why these theories were created or even accepted so readily. She gives several examples of very flawed logic by our 21st century thinking, but does not do a good job of putting the arguments of the Greeks into context. Obviously today the ‘wandering womb’ is a ridiculous theory, but why did the Greeks believe it so readily and what scientific equipment and theory were they working off of? To give context of the Greeks prior knowledge and an analysis comparing the thinking at that time would have strengthened Jones’ argument and made it more interesting rather than bringing up several examples of extremely flawed Greek logic.
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2019 Publication >
      • Scientific Research
      • Mathematical Exploration
      • Scientific Exploration
      • Computer Science
    • 2018 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Scientific Research
    • 2017 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Scientific Research
    • 2016 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
      • Scientific Research
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Artistic Creations
    • 2015 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Bell Curves
        • Birds Vs. Turbines
        • Energy in the Obama Era
        • The Future of Neuroscience
        • Gender Gap in Math
        • GMOs--Yes or No?
        • The History of Minecraft: How a Swedish Indie Game Came to Dominate the World
        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
        • Constructing a Soccer Ball
        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Chandelier
        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication