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Rosemary Ruether (1985:65) says that traditional Christian dualism originated partly in ancient
Greece from the metaphysical theories of Plato and Aristotle. She says:

The influence of … Aristotelian biology on Christian theology … can hardly be
underestimated. Aristotle’s biology gave “scientific expression” to the basic
patriarchal assumption that the male is the normative and representative
expression of the human species and the female is not only secondary and
auxiliary to the male but lacks full human status in physical strength, moral
self control, and mental capacity. The lesser “nature” thus confirms the
female’s subjugation to the male as her “natural” place in the universe. (1985:65)

Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle reflected and reinforced the discourse
on women’s status throughout history and their views on women also influenced the
views and thoughts of the Church fathers about women in Christian theology.
Plato (428-347 B.C.) was the first philosopher to develop a substantial understanding
of male and female identity. Gonzales (2007:21) argues that Plato’s views were
grounded in his mind-body dualism where the soul or mind was not necessarily
reflected in the body, but significantly distant from it.

Yen (2003:1) argues that Plato’s theory on the creation of humankind, where souls
were originally implanted in male bodies and given volition, sensation and emotion,
paved the way for gender inequality. For Kasubhai (1996:37, 47), the placement of
the creation of women in concurrence with the creation of birds, mammals, reptiles
and fish is an indication of Plato’s negative views on women. She describes Plato as
having had very strong views on the inferiority of women. He believed that, as they
were not fully human and not capable of reason, their only hope was to return to earth
again as men to perfect themselves. Plato also describes women as those men who have fallen prey to their irrational and emotional sides, and that as inferior beings, women must be ruled by men.

Aristotle believed that
women do not actually want to participate in political affairs. He concluded, therefore,
that women were better off being ruled over by men. In his Politics Aristotle also
reasoned that males, by their very nature, are more capable of leadership than
females. Aristotle also maintained that men should rule over their wives as they
lacked authority, a crucial component of ruling (Kraut 2002:249).

In an article, Should Women Want Women Priests or Women-Church? Ruether
(2011) states that Aristotle in The Politics was of the opinion that males are superior
to females because of their physical differences. Aristotle claimed that “The courage
of a man is shown in commanding of a woman in obeying” (Aristotle in Ruether
2011:65). Women are smaller, shorter-lived, weaker and less articulated than men
and, therefore, women should be ruled by men as determined by the natural order of
the universe. Men actively provide the soul of offspring whilst women only passively
provide the matter. Matter is less divine than form and, therefore, women are inferior
to men and should be confined to the household (Ruether 2011:65).

According to Strachan & Strachan (1985:2), Aristotle placed women in the same
category as slaves and non-Greeks; he perceived them to all be naturally servile and
created merely for procreation; he believed that one should look upon the female
state as being reformative.

Women, according to Aristotle, were defective beings, lacking mental volition and
physical powers and therefore are not able to exercise public leadership in the
Church and society (Ruther 2001:65). Aristotle’s texts are naturally perceived to be
misogynist as his abiding views on women were that they were inherently inferior to
men. To cite Cynthia Freeland’s catalogue:

“Aristotle says that the courage of a man lies in commanding, a
woman’s lies in obeying; that “matter yearns for form, as the female
for the male and the ugly for the beautiful;” that women have fewer
teeth than men; that the female is an incomplete male or “as it were,
a deformity”: which contributes only matter and not form to the
generation of offspring; that in general “ a woman is perhaps an
inferior being”: that female characters in a tragedy will be
inappropriate if they are too brave or too clever” (Freeland 1994:145-
146).

Christian teaching has been influenced by Plato and Aristotle; Christian alienation
from body and nature stems from the Church fathers and this will be discussed in the
next section.