John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill has a very different view of the role of women than Sarah Stickney Ellis. While Ellis advises women that the best place for them in society is in the home and to be submissive to their husband, Mill has quite the opposite view. With radical views of his time, he advocated sexual equality, the right to divorce, universal suffrage, free speech, and proportional representation. In chapter one of The Subjection of Women, he gives his views of sexual equality. He points out in his writing that:

“the legal subordination of one sex to the other – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.” (521).

Whether it is men or women, no sex should be over the other. In this passage, he does not say distinctly that men should not be over women, he simply says that all should be equal. For instance, if the situation was turned around and women were dominant over men, he would argue equally as much his point that the two should be equal. In addition, he makes an argument that “the opinion in favour of the present system, which entirely subordinates the weaker sex to the stronger, rests upon theory only.” In other words, there is no reason that women should be subordinate to men because there is no evidence that this is the best way for things. It is simply based on theory and people’s beliefs. He points out, “the adoption of this system of inequality never was the result of deliberation, or forethought, or any social ideas, or any notion” (522). He uses excellent arguments next to make his point that theories are not always correct. He refers to the slave-owners in Southern United States and points out that their doctrines were similar. He asks, “Did they not call heaven and earth to witness that the dominion of the white man over the black is natural, that the black race is by nature incapable of freedom, and marked out of slavery?” (522). At this time in England, slavery was not allowed and looked down upon even. He is stating that if people have been wrong before about their theories of submission and yielding to the control of others, than the theories of a woman’s submission to a man are probably wrong as well. Part of the reason he believes people feel this way are because it is how their circle of friends supposedly feels. He states, “A stupid person’s notions and feelings may confidently be inferred from those which prevail in the circle by which the person is surrounded” (524). In other words, even the people who may believe in equality of the sexes will not speak out about it because of fear.

It was interesting reading this work about equality of the sexes from a male’s point of view. Often times sadly enough women write for women’s inequality but it gets passed along as just another feminist complaining. There were actually probably many men who were for woman’s rights that never even spoke up during that time. The ones that did were seen as extremely radical and may have been looked down upon by their male peers. Luckily enough, people like him did speak out. Because of writers like Mill, much advancement has been made in equality of the sexes since today.