JS MILLS
By: Jenna, Malika, and the Yas(a)mins
Historical Context
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In Victorian England, women gradually gained more legal rights (like the right to
divorce), but they were still inferior to men in education, political rights, and social
status.
Many thinkers similar to john stuart mill , politicians, activists, and writers,
contributed to this debate on gender roles in the Victorian Age.
Mill was a British philosopher and writer who was fed up with women being
treated as subordinate and disempowered.
So, in 1869, Mill published his book, The Subjection of Women, which analyzed
women's status and advocated for women's equality in Victorian society.
He was the first male
feminist overriding the
subjection of women
Purpose of Writing
According to Mill, custom (by which he means, Victorian culture or society) insists that a woman’s
primary duty is to please and serve others and to put her own desires on hold. That means women
were expected and taught to attract a suitable husband, and, once married, to stay home, raise the
children, submit to her husband, and attend to household affairs. This concept of female gender
roles was also referred as the cult of domesticity. Mill rejected all of this and instead argued that
such custom kept women from reaching their full potential. Instead, Mill argued women should be
granted more political and legal rights as well as given more social and economic opportunities.
Interestingly his wife was both companion and
best friend and so seeing the many attributes
his wife has have inspired him in writing the
essay.
She also edited it
Impact on Society
John Stuart Mill’s 1869 book, The Subjection of Women, was an important contribution to the Victorian
Woman Question (the debate over female gender roles). His book understandably ruffled some
feathers because he was criticizing a core component of Victorian society: the cult of domesticity,
which confined female gender roles to the household. However, his book became very popular
because an increasing number of Victorians agreed that perfect equality between the genders (where
neither gender has any special political or social advantages or disadvantages over the other) was
necessary for society to advance. Mill’s book was quickly embraced by feminists and suffragists in
both England and America because as the best analysis and articulation of their views. And even
though women wouldn’t get to vote in England until 1918, Mill’s book did much to advance the
conversation in the direction towards gender equality.
Quotes
“Stupidity is much the same all the world over. A stupid person's notions and feelings
may confidently be inferred from those which prevail in the circle by which the person
is surrounded. Not so with those whose opinions and feelings are an emanation from
their own nature and faculties.”
“It rests with those who accusehim to give proof of his guilt, not with himself to prove
his innocence”
“ those who contend for any restriction or prohibition either any limitation of the
general freedom of human action or any disqualification or disparity of privilege
affecting one person or kind of persons, as compared with others”
‘ every woman owing to the value attached to her by men, combined with her inferiority
in muscular strength”