The notion of female rhetoric is somewhat buried in the male-dominated tradition. This is not to say that a "female" voice does not emerge at certain critical moments within the rhetorical tradition, but a separate female tradition is not capable of existing continuously throughout the history of rhetoric. By first observing the suppression of Aspasia's voice (and the impossibility of her voice being strictly female), the comparison between her, Christine Pizan and Hélène Cixous will be greatly facilitated. Furthermore, the common concerns that emerge in Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies and Cixous's “The Laughter of the Medusa” will be compared with each other, as each woman is representative of a critical moment within the rhetorical tradition. Here I will explore each woman's role as a woman within a patriarchal tradition to reveal that, although a female voice emerges at critical moments, a separate female rhetorical tradition cannot exist throughout history. Because of the lack of primary sources compared to the abundant secondary source material on Aspasia, incorporating her into the discussion of “feminine” rhetoric – questioning the influence she has had on it and whether her influence is peculiarly feminine – is problematic. That said, a significant number of feminist scholars offer their opinions and an interesting debate has arisen. Xin Liu Gale, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University, wrote an article in response to the feminist reshaping of Aspasia's voice. In her article, “Historical Studies and Postmodernism: Rereading Aspasia of Miletus,” Gale questions the historical arguments of three feminist historians, Susan C. Jarratt, Rory Ong, and Cheryl Glenn. Gale describes that... mid-paper... twentieth century. We knew we were not the first, but few would have expected to find arguments so fully and forcefully established in fifteenth-century France. Yet here they are again; or rather, they were always here [italics mine] (694). This female 'voice' may exist for us now, but it cannot have existed in the history following Pizan's life. For this reason, the notion of a separate feminine tradition existing continuously throughout the history of rhetoric is almost impossible. While some might argue that the "female" voice existed whether it was widely known or not, my argument lies in the fact that an unheard voice has little influence on a discourse and therefore cannot actually exist. Therefore, a separate female rhetorical tradition cannot truly exist throughout history, and if you look at both Aspasia and now Christine de Pizan, this is even more evident..