In the 1980s, while a graduate student at the
City University of New York Graduate Center, Mary Ellen Waithe, now professor of philosophy and interim director of Women's Studies at
Cleveland State University, "came upon a reference to a work by
Aegidius Menagius,
Historia Mullierum Philosopharum, published in 1690 and 1692. [Waithe] had never heard of any women philosophers prior to the 20th century with the exceptions of
Queen Christina of Sweden, known as Descartes' student, and
Hildegard von Bingen, who lived in the 12th century." After she obtained a copy of this book, she discovered that "many of the women [Menagius] listed as philosophers were astronomers, astrologers, gynecologists, or simply relatives of male philosophers. Nevertheless, the list of women alleged to have been philosophers was impressive." • Volume III,
Modern Women Philosophers (1991) 1600–1900,
Margaret Cavendish,
Kristina (Queen of Sweden),
Anne Finch (Viscountess Conway),
Sor Juana,
Mary Wollstonecraft,
Harriet Hardy Taylor Mill, and dozens of others. • Volume IV,
Contemporary Women Philosophers (1995) 1900–present,
Lady Victoria Welby,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
Lou Salome,
L. Susan Stebbing,
Edith Stein,
Ayn Rand,
Hannah Arendt,
Edith Stein,
Simone Weil, and many others. At the 2002 conference for Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy, Dr.
Nancy Tuana asserted the evolutionary theory that the clitoris is unnecessary in reproduction and therefore it has been "historically ignored," mainly because of "a fear of pleasure. It is pleasure separated from reproduction. That's the fear". She reasoned that this fear is the cause of the ignorance that veils female sexuality. The received view, advanced by
Stephen Jay Gould suggests that
muscular contractions associated with orgasms pull sperm from the vagina to the
cervix, where it is in a better position to reach the egg. Dr. Tuana's proposal challenged the view previously accepted by male biologists. ==Publications==