The Gender of Silence: Irigaray on the Measureless Measure

This article explores the gendered nature of speech and silence in ancient Greece by showing how women were denied the measure of moderation (sōphrosunē) with regard to speech. Drawing on examples from Plato and Aristotle, it shows how the voice of Greek women was associated with irreducibly contradictory qualities of being too loud, yet never silent enough. Exploring these contradictions through Plato’s chōra and Irigaray’s Speculum of the Other Woman, it argues that Greek women were ultimately considered essentially atopos, or out of place by virtue of their measurelessness, with great political consequences for the city.