Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill

Another of the arguments made by John Stuart Mill in the first chapter is that even when society had seemed to accept the idea that a person’s birth should not determine his/her social position in life, when it comes to the subordination of women there is not such acceptance. Men continue to believe that it comes natural for women to prefer the vocation of wife and mother before anything else. However, they choose to overlook that women across the globe have been educated into the mentality that they are supposed to be feeble, emotional, and compliant. That they have been taught to submit to the superiority of males and most importantly to always put first the interest of their family and their men before her own, defining with it the way females

Firstly, like I stated in the introduction, Mill believes that the biggest threat to society is that Freedom of Speech being stifled and women not having the same rights and opportunities as men. This is a threat to society for several reasons. Mill pointed out that “the opinion which it is attempted to suppress by authority may possibly be true” (Frederick Nietzsche; Douglas Smith, 2008, p. P386) which indicates that an unpopular opinion could be true – ignoring this opinion would mean the public would be pursuing something which is incorrect – this would clearly damage society. Mill also stated that “though the silenced opinion be an error, it may, and very commonly does, contain a portion of truth; and since the general or prevailing opinion on any subject is rarely or never the whole truth, it is

Mill also argues for the right for women to own property. Hughes agrees and furthers Mills argument by stating, “What is explicit, is his view that it was woman’s place to assume responsibility for the effective functioning of the family and thus that ‘women in the home’ was a useful, if not necessary, condition for the maintenance of property.” Women were the caretakers of everyone in the home, but also tended to the property that the husband owned through cooking and cleaning and tending to it. Mill uses this as reason for why they should be able to own property for that they are the ones who make use of it the most and should be able to own a piece of property or land for that reason alone. They put the work in, so they should be able to

He feels that because women have been in this position for so many years, it would feel irregular to deviate from it. “The subjection of women to men being a universal custom, any departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural” (Mill 1157). As he continues, he reveals his thoughts on the matter to the reader: “this relic of the past is discordant with the future, and must necessarily disappear” (Mill 1159). Mill explores many aspects of the issue. He attempts to uncover the differences between the sexes to provide maybe another solution to the problem, but to no avail, “nothing final can be known” (Mill 1162); nothing is as strongly stated as when he places the blame on custom. Later in his essay, while exploring the systems of past societies, he comes to the same conclusion as earlier. Only this time, he states that there has been some improvement in the system as time went by; however, equality has not yet been reached. He believes that the small increase in power over time is enough to suggest that equality is the solution: “Through all…human history, the condition of women has been approaching nearer to equality with men. This does not itself prove that the assimilation must go on to complete equality; but it assuredly affords some presumption that such is the case” (Mill 1160). This quote is yet another contribution to the blame of custom. In the past, societies lacked equality

Mill begins his final chapter by trying to cover the meaning of justice, by coming up with a list of things that are frequently classified as just or unjust. He examined what justice is and says that it is the concept of the moral rights of an individual. He talks about so many solid examples of injustice. Firstly, it is unjust to deprive one of his legal rights, violating one’s moral rights, everyone should receive what the deserve whether good or bad, break contracts and be partial. Mill differentiated other outlines of morality from justice through the idea of a perfect duty. Perfect duties, are what one must always fulfil and have not choice over it, and imperfect duty is we have a choice and just decide to help someone on our own, e.g

Mill counters with a social metaphor explaining the natural processes by which unqualified candidates are excluded from certain positions - no one demands that blacksmiths meet certain physical criteria, for the ones who are best suited for the job will naturally come out on top. He states, “If the political system of the country is such as to exclude unfit men, it will equally exclude unfit women” (56). It is not the government’s role to tell women that they would be “best served” by keeping in the home; it should be the woman’s choice, and thereafter we must let the chips fall where they may.

The theorists I’ve chosen is John Stewart Mill (1806 – 1873), I’ve included his birth and death dates to show how his theories still ring clear in healthcare today. It will be his ethical theories that take us into the next millennia.

Now that his concept of Utilitarian thought is greater understood, one can begin to identify John Stuart Mill’s points of discussion in his work The Subjection of Women. Mill clearly states that the current standard of living is wrong itself, and “ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality” ( Mill, 1) that does not subjugate or offer prejudice on either side. Although a somewhat unrealistic goal, Mill’s philosophical analysis actually provides some extremely contextual and concise points of discussion. One major point in his argument occurs in his discussion of women’s roles in history. Mill’s analysis of a lack of feminine power throughout the historical context of western culture is one that is referred to by modern feminists today. His claim of female repression as “a single relic of an old world of thought and practice” (Mill, 12) provides tremendous proof of historical accuracy, regarding the questionable structural integrity of religiously

Published in 1869, John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women is a revolutionary feminist piece for its time, highlighting the unfair treatment of women in the Victorian era. Particularly, middle-class women were restricted from having lucrative employment and attending institutions of higher education, were not permitted to vote and had very few legal rights. Mill’s work was crucial to the woman’s movement of the Victorian era, as he argued for government reforms of property laws, divorce laws, and the right for women to vote.

Throughout most of history, women have been among the oppressed. Over hundreds of years, women have been devalued, so they have come to accept it with little resistant because it was the norm (Feminist Ethics). This changed during WWII, when many women were forced to enter the workplace to support their families, while their spouse are fighting oversea. Upon the return of their spouse and son, they refused to return to their old way of living and this sparked the second wave of feminism. In many ways, Western philosophy is rooted in this belief that women are incapable of being logical and therefore, most Western philosophers looked down on women. The work reflected how society viewed women at the time. John Stuart Mill was far ahead

In John Mill's book, 'The Subjection of Women', Mill argues for female equality in a Victorian society that denied women many social and political rights. Many people contributed to the argument on gender roles during the Victorian age. John Mill was a major figure throughout this age and debate. He did not believe women should be treated as subordinate and unable to function without a male. Mill's book looked at women's status and sought out equality. He explains that, "... The legal subordination of one sex to another – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a system of perfect equality, admitting no power

John Stuart Mill is a British philosopher who argued for the emancipation of women and recognition of their legal rights. In his essay The Subjection of Women he calls for the social and legal equality for women. He writes about women having equal rights as men and implies that if women were given the same opportunities as men then they would feel as human as the rest of mankind. Women in his culture were treated differently than men, but he says that if they were treated the same then women now would probably have the same opportunities as men and it would not be seen as something that is not the social norm for women to do. With women being treated similar to men the roles and status of women would have been different in his culture as well as in ours, women would not be seen as only caretakers nor would women be seen so inferior to men because they would be seen as capable of doing many things. Also, because of the way women were treated in earlier times, it does seem possible that one may experience the sense of not "being a human being like any other".

[149] This argument can be refuted by using Mill’s “natural” argument. He states that “What is now called the ‘nature of women’ is an artificial thing- the result of the forced repression in some directions, unnatural stimulation in others.” [152] In other words Mill is stating that the subjection of women is something that has been ingrained in society for so long that is custom. Even the ones who are oppressed, which are women, in this case, will even start to believe it, (which is why they might prefer being housewives). Mill uses this argument to explain that custom is the reason for the subjection of women and not the so-called ‘natural’ differences. To conclude this point, Mill argued that the inequality of women was a “relic from the past”, and had no place in the modern world. [150] This supports the notion that he was, in fact, a feminist. He believed that women should be on an equal playing field with men and that having effectively half the human race unable to contribute to society is a “hindrance to human development”. [134] Even though Mill’s ideas are important to feminist texts of the nineteenth century he still inspires feminists around the world even till this day.

Many women during this time were influenced by the British philosopher John Stuart Mill. Mill is known for his essays discussing women’s rights and gender equality. He encourages both women and men to adopt the theory of “lasting flexibility of mind.” This theory helps both genders to be able to think outside of their conservative mindset and the ability to reject the traditional views of the 19th century.

Secondly, the Industrial Revolution influenced female suffrage due to it creating new ideologies. As inequality was proliferating, there was also new ideologies proliferating as well. For example, liberalism is an ideology that stresses the liberty and equality for all individuals. Throughout the late nineteenth-century liberalism took a new form of equalizing suffrage between both males and females. A liberal thinker that advocated for females was John Stuart Mill. Mill wrote on a plethora of topics that dealt with social and political concern, but his most known writings is The Subjection of Women. This writing implied that the upbringing of women created a faulty relationship of inequality with males. Alfred Lord Tennyson, a UK poet, best describes this inequality in his poem The Princess, “Man for the field, woman for the hearth, man for the sword and for the needle she; man with the head and woman with the heart, man to command and woman to obey; all else confusion” (Tennyson, 1847). Mill as a liberal thinking and utilitarian, viewed this inequality as something that should be eradicated. Mill’s efforts on writing The Subjection of Women demonstrates that liberalism, and even utilitarianism, were new ideologies that were formed out of the Industrial Revolution. These ideologies would then advocated for female suffrage. Moreover, another ideology that was evident throughout the nineteenth-century was the “Separate Sphere” ideology. These spheres emerged from the