More than 400 years before Christ, Socrates ended gender inequality and misogyny. He made a compelling argument for gender equality and against misogyny and sexism, asserting that there are no inherent differences between men and women in terms of abilities and roles – even unveiled the hypocrisy of society’s position in policing women on matters of dressing but not men – remember than argument that men tend to make against girls and women who are victims of rape. Lero ndikugule!

I digressed (are you not used?)! Socrates asserted, “And if, I said, the male and female sex appear to differ in their fitness for any art or pursuit, we should say that such pursuit or art ought to be assigned to one or the other of them; but if the difference consists only in women bearing and men begetting children, this does not amount to a proof that a woman differs from a man in respect of the sort of education she should receive; and we shall therefore continue to maintain that our guardians and their wives ought to have the same pursuits”.

Such a fascinating argument. Within this discourse, Socrates inferred that any perceived superiority of men over women is solely based on differences in ‘education’, not some inherent ability. Thus, he established while setting the strong foundation for gender equality, that men and women should have the same education – that there should be no discrimination.

“Then let the wives of our guardians strip, for their virtue will be their robe, and let them share in the toils of war and the defence of their country; only in the distribution of labors the lighter are to be assigned to the women, who are the weaker natures, but in other respects their duties are to be the same. And as for the man who laughs at naked women exercising their bodies from the best of motives, in his laughter he is plucking ‘A fruit of unripe wisdom’, and he himself is ignorant of what he is laughing at, or what he is about; for that is, and ever will be, the best of sayings, ‘that the useful is the noble, and the hurtful is the base’”.

With that line, nearly 2,500 years ago, Socrates ended gender inequality and misogyny.

“Then, if women are to have the same duties as men, they must have the same nurture and education…which they must practice like the men”[.] That was in the 5th Century BCE.

Chapter 5 of The Republic is a must-read. As I have previously argued, Philosophy should be a mandatory course in our secondary schools, if not in primary schools, throughout Malawi. This is particularly essential in light of Malawi’s quest and commitment to gender equality, as outlined in the country’s Gender Equality Act and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).