Mansfield Says Women Lack Male Aggressiveness

Thomson Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield '53 said in an interview published in today's Harvard Review of Philosophy that "women will never succeed in...being as successful in occupations which require aggressiveness as men are."

Students active in women's issues on campus disagreed with Mansfield's comments.

Mansfield said attributes including "more get-up-and-go, less regard for others, more initiative, more ruthlessness"--and more irresponsibility--are in general more prevalent in men than in women. These differences are "primarily natural, but also partly socialized," he said.

Asked if the "real problem with the American family today is that many women in two-parent families are working," or if it is the absence of the father in many families, Mansfield answered "both."

He added that "the feminists fail to realize a liberated woman also liberates a man" and later said that a family leave bill "hurts families by producing greater independence of husband and wife from each other."

Asked if he thinks the decision to work for many women is a question of poverty, Mansfield said, "no, I don't think poverty, no," saying the situation is "much overstated."

"I'm against daycare, too--or government supported daycare. I think it's better to have parents at home with children, and [for them to have] a somewhat less affluent life," Mansfield told the Harvard Review of Philosophy.

Students active in women's issues on campus reacted sharply to Mansfield's comments last night.

"By relying on what he believes is women's essential nature, Mansfield relegates all women to an inferior level of nonaggressive females who should realize that working in the home without pay is the only job for which they are equipped," said Maura H. Swan '95, co-president of the Radcliffe Union of Students. "Mansfield's comments profess hatred rather than sparking educational debate."

"To discount the contributions of women in the public sphere just because historically women have been in the private sphere is to repeat some of the mistakes of history," said Holly K. Tabor '94, a coordinator of the campus magazine Lighthouse, which focuses on women's issues.

Lighthouse coordinator Hallie Z. Levine '95, a Women's Studies concentrator, said her concentration and the fact that she is a woman would likely make her feel uncomfortable in a Mansfield class.

"I imagine he wouldn't have a very open attitude towards anything I as a woman would have to say," Levine said.

Mansfield said in a Crimson interview yesterday that he expected no controversy from the publication of his comments. "These are philosophical remarks addressed to all the philosophers at Harvard," he said.

His conclusions on the natures of women and men are drawn from "continual reading in ancient and modern books" of philosophy and "personal observation," he said.

Mansfield said yesterday that mothers should not work full-time while their children are growing up. "In general it would be better if women could be full-time mothers," he said. "Fathers don't do well as mothers," since the sexes are "not exchangeable."

"The majority of women don't have to work to escape poverty," he said yesterday. They "mostly work for extra money for their families.

"I'm against daycare, too--or government supported daycare. I think it's better to have parents at home with children, and [for them to have] a somewhat less affluent life," Mansfield told the Harvard Review of Philosophy.

Students active in women's issues on campus reacted sharply to Mansfield's comments last night.

"By relying on what he believes is women's essential nature, Mansfield relegates all women to an inferior level of nonaggressive females who should realize that working in the home without pay is the only job for which they are equipped," said Maura H. Swan '95, co-president of the Radcliffe Union of Students. "Mansfield's comments profess hatred rather than sparking educational debate."

"To discount the contributions of women in the public sphere just because historically women have been in the private sphere is to repeat some of the mistakes of history," said Holly K. Tabor '94, a coordinator of the campus magazine Lighthouse, which focuses on women's issues.

Lighthouse coordinator Hallie Z. Levine '95, a Women's Studies concentrator, said her concentration and the fact that she is a woman would likely make her feel uncomfortable in a Mansfield class.

"I imagine he wouldn't have a very open attitude towards anything I as a woman would have to say," Levine said.

Mansfield said in a Crimson interview yesterday that he expected no controversy from the publication of his comments. "These are philosophical remarks addressed to all the philosophers at Harvard," he said.

His conclusions on the natures of women and men are drawn from "continual reading in ancient and modern books" of philosophy and "personal observation," he said.

Mansfield said yesterday that mothers should not work full-time while their children are growing up. "In general it would be better if women could be full-time mothers," he said. "Fathers don't do well as mothers," since the sexes are "not exchangeable."

"The majority of women don't have to work to escape poverty," he said yesterday. They "mostly work for extra money for their families.