“woman (mulier) gets her name from ‘softness’ (mollitie)” because “the two sexes are differentiated in the strength (fortitudine) and weakness (imbecillitate) of their bodies.”1
Because males in reproduction play the active role, it shows hierarchy and inequality in the sexes. The two main principles in this premise are namely
1) The act of generation has passive and active part, males being the active.
2) In sex determination, the male seed is the determinant of the offspring’s sex.
From the second principle comes the Scholastic/Aristotelian maxim that “Women are misbegotten males.”2 This is so because the active force, the part which requires active participation and additional substance is what generates the male sex. Though many argue that their biology was entirely erroneous, I will also prove that their biological basis is actually backed by the modern scientific method.
References supporting the claim:
Reply: “Vis-a-vis [seen as caused by] the natura particularis [i.e., the action of the male semen], a female is deficient and unintentionally caused. For the active power of the semen always seeks to produce a thing completely like itself, something male. So if a female is produced, this must be because the semen is weak or because the material [provided by the female parent] is unsuitable, or because of the action of some external factor such as the winds from the south which make the atmosphere humid. But vis-a-vis [seen as caused by] natura universalis [general Nature] the female is not accidentally caused but is intended by Nature for the work of generation. Now the intentions of Nature come from God, who is its author. This is why, when he created Nature, he made not only the male but also the female” Summa Theologica, 1, qu. 92, art 1, ad 1.
In procreation the man is active, the woman is passive
“As regards generation by coition, there are, in the present state of life, two things to be considered. One, which comes from nature, is the union of man and woman; for in every act of generation there is an active and a passive principle. Wherefore, since wherever there is distinction of sex, the active principle is male and the passive is female; the order of nature demands that for the purpose of generation there should be concurrence of male and female. The second thing to be observed is a certain deformity of excessive concupiscence, which in the state of innocence would not have existed, when the lower powers were entirely subject to reason.” Summa Theologica, I qu. 98, art 1.
The male seed has an active force from its male parent
“Now the more powerful an agent, the greater scope its action has: for instance, the hotter a body, the greater the distance to which its heat carries. Therefore bodies not endowed with life, which are the lowest in the order of nature, generate their like, not through some medium, but by themselves; thus fire by itself generates fire. But living bodies, as being more powerful, act so as to generate their like, both without and with a medium. Without a medium–in the work of nutrition, in which flesh generates flesh: with a medium–in the act of generation, because the semen of the animal or plant derives a certain active force from the soul of the generator, just as the instrument derives a certain motive power from the principal agent. And as it matters not whether we say that something is moved by the instrument or by the principal agent, so neither does it matter whether we say that the soul of the generated is caused by the soul of the generator, or by some seminal power derived therefrom.” Summa Theologica II, q. 18, art. 1.
The active force in the male seed also derives power from the heavenly bodies
“ This active force which is in the semen, and which is derived from the soul of the generator, is, as it were, a certain movement of this soul itself: nor is it the soul or a part of the soul, save virtually; thus the form of a bed is not in the saw or the axe, but a certain movement towards that form. Consequently there is no need for this active force to have an actual organ; but it is based on the (vital) spirit in the semen which is frothy, as is attested by its whiteness. In which spirit, moreover, there is a certain heat derived from the power of the heavenly bodies, by virtue of which the inferior bodies also act towards the production of the species as stated above (115, 3, ad 2). And since in this (vital) spirit the power of the soul is concurrent with the power of a heavenly body, it has been said that “man and the sun generate man”.” Summa Theologica II, q. 18, art. 1, ad 3.
The male seed takes nourishment from the mother
“In perfect animals, generated by coition, the active force is in the semen of the male, as the Philosopher says (De Gener. Animal. ii, 3); but the foetal matter is provided by the female. . . . And after the sensitive soul, by the power of the active principle in the semen, has been produced in one of the principal parts of the thing generated, then it is that the sensitive soul of the offspring [=the foetus] begins to work towards the perfection of its own body, by nourishment and growth.” Summa Theologica II, q. 18, art. 1, ad 4.
The modern scientific system incidentally backing the principles of St. Thomas and Aristotle is without a question apparent. In the process of conception there is evidence that the egg plays the passive role and the sperm, the active. It’s irrefutable that sperm actively moves and travels while the egg receives, additionally, the egg carries only an X chromosome while the sperm both X and Y. What this means is that in the fertilization of the egg by the sperm, it not only acts but also plays the final determinant of whether the offspring becomes male or female. It should be noted here that females require only two X chromosomes to come out while males require both X and Y. While there is the ability for two X (which forms a female) there cannot be two Y of which would come from the male seed. This proves St. Thomas Aquinas on the active participation in generation from males and the passivity of females.
“In mammals, primary sex determination is strictly chromosomal and is not usually influenced by the environment. In most cases, the female is XX and the male is XY. Every individual must have at least one X chromosome. Since the female is XX, each of her eggs has a single X chromosome. The male, being XY, can generate two types of sperm: half bear the X chromosome, half the Y. If the egg receives another X chromosome from the sperm, the resulting individual is XX, forms ovaries, and is female; if the egg receives a Y chromosome from the sperm, the individual is XY, forms testes, and is male. The Y chromosome carries a gene that encodes a testis-determining factor. This factor organizes the gonad into a testis rather than an ovary. Unlike the situation in Drosophila (discussed below), the mammalian Y chromosome is a crucial factor for determining sex in mammals. A person with five X chromosomes and one Y chromosome (XXXXXY) would be male. Furthermore, an individual with only a single X chromosome and no second X or Y (i.e., XO) develops as a female and begins making ovaries, although the ovarian follicles cannot be maintained. For a complete ovary, a second X chromosome is needed.”3
Although modern science claims that there is no default sex organ but rather that of a predisposed part called the Gonads. It has been proven that in removal of this organ, the offspring, regardless of whether they had XX or XY became a female. Once again proving the Scholastic maxim.
“Secondary sex determination affects the bodily phenotype outside the gonads. A male mammal has a penis, seminal vesicles, and prostate gland. A female mammal has a vagina, cervix, uterus, oviducts, and mammary glands. In many species, each sex has a sex-specific size, vocal cartilage, and musculature. These secondary sex characteristics are usually determined by hormones secreted from the gonads. However, in the absence of gonads, the female phenotype is generated. When Jost (1953) removed fetal rabbit gonads before they had differentiated, the resulting rabbits had a female phenotype, regardless of whether they were XX or XY. They each had oviducts, a uterus, and a vagina, and each lacked a penis and male accessory structures.”
- Isidore, Of Seville, Saint, Died 636 Author. Etymology. ↩︎
- ST I, Q. 92, A. 1 “As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comes from defect in the active force or from some material indisposition, or even from some external influence; such as that of a south wind, which is moist, as the Philosopher observes (De Gener. Animal. iv, 2).” ↩︎
- Gilbert SF. Developmental Biology. 6th edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates; 2000. Chromosomal Sex Determination in Mammals. ↩︎
