John Stuart Mill
(1806 – 1873)
Who Is He?
John Stuart
Mill was best known for his radical philosophy on the rights of the individual,
work on the tyranny of the majority, and women’s rights. He was also known for his thoughts on
political economy and his social activism.
Important Works
The following list is in no way complete. Mill was constantly writing, these works are
some of his most major projects and accomplishments.
“Tyranny of the
Majority”
“Social Liberty”
“The Negro Question”
– An argument with Thomas Carlyle on the question of slavery
“Utilitarianism”
“On Liberty”
“The Subjection of
Women”
“The Subjection of Women.”
(1869)
Chapter 1
“Men do not want solely the
obedience of women, they want their sentiments. All men, except the most
brutish, desire to have, in the woman most nearly connected with them, not a
forced slave but a willing one, not a slave merely, but a favourite. They have
therefore put everything in practice to enslave their minds. The masters of all
other slaves rely, for maintaining obedience, on fear; either fear of
themselves, or religious fears.”
Mill begins
his argument by stating one of the major hindrances to human development and
progress is the subordination of one person to another. In order to overcome this dilemma is of
course the opposite of subordination, and that is equality. In the first few pages of chapter one, Mill
points out three factors in the hindrance that he spoke on previously that of
power, religion, and government.
Granted, power is abused in many forms other than just religion and
government, but in the case of women, husband’s abuse so called power as
well.
In the case
of religion, religion has been oppressing women and suppressing their rights
for quite some time now. Mill reminds us
that religion exercises the power to send thousands to their deaths in wars and
through sacrificing, it takes away from people at the prime of their lives and
forces them to live in poverty, fasting, and prayer shut up in convents. Religion has the power to force husbands to
give up their wives. Mill defines
religion as an instrument of conflict and it has little power to stop wars and
prevent others from being cruel to one another, especially in this case against
women. Mill does not forget to include
governments in this case either. He
defines government, in particular in this case kings, as an instrument that is
supposed to stop the conflict that religion is unable to stop itself, but says
that kings are unable to do this either.
Kings are unable to put a stop to conflict because of greed and the
thirst for more power and control as in the case of religion and its
inability. Mill hypothesizes that in
order to put an end to the chaotic tug of war of power is to establish complete
equality; equality in power, rights, and free national institutions.
Mill
attacks those that believe in the power of force and superiority. Speaking on the case of women, Mill ties
slavery of the southern United States into the argument. Slave owners in the United States believed
that the African slave was given to them by heaven and earth. Slave owners argued that slaves were
incapable of freedom and should not get it.
At the same time Mill argues that this same belief by slave owners also
is applied to the brave and strong when they think it is their station in life
to have power, authority, and master status over the weak of the species. As a result of these tied in subjects Mill
states this is the reason to women being subjected by men. Men believe that women should not have their
freedom because they do not need it; men adopt a “master” status when it comes
to women.
Women have
had a consistent method to fight against their oppression and that is through
writing. Their works have culminated in
them fighting for suffrage through petitioning parliament. Mill explains that freedom is often not
obtained all at once, but through time.
Initial complaints are seldom about power itself, but rather about oppression
in general.
Mill
disagrees with the opposite way in which children are raised. Females are raised to think they must do
everything in opposite to their male counterparts; largely they are taught how
to submit to the authority and superiority of males. Depending on how women present their level of
submission increases their sexual appeal to men. Women, Mill theorizes,
increase in sexual attraction when they are meek, submissive, and give up their
freedom to men.
With the
amount of power men have over women; women’s rights and safety decline. As a result of this power, governments make
laws defining this power and enforce these laws over women so they dare not
challenge the power of their male masters and overseers. Even in the case of extreme mistreatment and
abuse, women will seldom dare to escape the clutches of their male master. Government laws over women are established so
as to dissuade any idea of collective rebellion.
Mill warns
the progressing society of complacency, though women are gaining equality, this
does not mean that women have achieved complete equality. Equality should be a constant endeavor and
objective by those that seek its establishment in society. He further warns men of their ignorance of
history and error in thought when they claim they know the thoughts of women
simply because of amatory relations. Because
men have a sexual encounter with a woman therefore they must know exactly how
women think, Mill rejects this thinking error.
This is the case because subordination and affection will not allow for
perfect understanding of women for men.
If men want to understand women better than they do then they must
improve the treatment of women with total equality; oppression and
subordination must be cast out.
Men are
disgusted with women and their increasing literary skills because their only
vocation should be that of wife and mother.
If women refuse to get married than it is necessary to compel them to
with laws and force. Laws and force come
from men, government, and religion. In
the case of religion and government, they are both ran by men, essentially men
use those two institutions to further their own interests and make up rules,
commandments, and laws to force women into marital servitude.
Chapter 2
“Absolute fiends are as rare
as angels, perhaps rarer: ferocious savages, with occasional touches of humanity,
are however very frequent.”
Mill
continues in chapter 2 his discussion on marriage by talking about men and
religion being a compelling factor for women in the marriage relationship. For more desirable women, men and religion
will compel her into marriage with the only escape being life in a
convent. The church does little to
nothing to curb forced marriages. They
do ask for a direct yes from the bride, but the bride is forced to be there
nonetheless.
After the
bride enters marriage she is expected to be entirely obedient to her husband
without question. Mill argues this
arrangement is worse than the relationship a slave has with their master. The slave his often not attached to the
master all day, the slave often is able to live a short life other than to
purely be a slave to a master. He is
able to come home and have a family on his own.
A woman on the other hand is forced to be at her husband’s side at all
times. She becomes his
entertainment. Her treatment is poor by
her husband master. He is able to do all
manner of vile things to her through force.
At times, if he so chooses, she is raped by him and treated no better
than an animal. She is not allowed to
have property. All of her possessions at
the time of marriage are forcefully surrendered to him, after marriage she will
no longer have possessions of her own, all things will belong to her husband.
In relation
to children that the husband and wife had together, they do not belong to her
only to him. He alone has the power of
life and death over his children, his final word over them is law, and she has
no control over them. If she chooses to
leave her husband master she will lose her children for good and will not be
allowed to see them. Often the husband
has the power to compel her to return, in particular through force. A man is protected by law to essentially do
whatever he wants to and with his wife excepting murder, though there have been
many cases where the husband is not found out or convicted.
The place
for women is in the home and as a result society will not tolerate a woman who
over steps her bounds in this respect.
Accordingly, she is taught from a very impressionable and young age that
her only business is to helping her husband further title, helping her son gain
societal advantage and prominence, and she will be charged with raising her
daughters to think as she thinks, that she is answerable to men. As a result of the husband to wife
relationship, Mill asks the question, if there is a disagreement between the
two whose decision is the outcome? Of
course Mill argues that the man’s decision and position in the argument prevails.
In his
conclusion of chapter 2 which is largely dedicated to the institution of
marriage, Mill urges those who engage in marriage to let it be a marriage of
equality rather than of obedience. It is
justifiable to state that Mill’s vision of marriage is a social construct based
on love, equality, on respect and all sincerity.
Chapter 3
“Even if every woman were a wife, and if every wife
ought to be a slave, all the more would these slaves stand in need of legal
protection: and we know what legal protection the slaves have, where the laws
are made by their masters.”
Mill begins
by stating a generality that men cannot tolerate the idea of living with an
equal. Mill combats this idea by drawing
in many historical examples where women were successful in male dominated spheres
in particular in ruling.
…
Deborah:
She became famous for her peoples belief in her prophetic skills. She is the only female judge mentioned in the
Bible for her talents at military command.
The Jewish Virtual Library argues that Deborah is perhaps the Bible’s
greatest female example.
In roughly 600 years later we still remember her name. Her name was immortalized by her actions and through
literally the tens of thousands written on just her by many authors, especially
by the more famous of authors like Shakespeare, Twain, and Voltaire just to
name a few. At just 16 years of age,
Joan of Arc claims to have been called by God to deliver France from her enemy,
England. Her actions, bravery, and
defiance to rigid gender norms literally changed the course to the 100 Years
War with England. She was eventually was
captured and sold to the English where she was put in prison and tortured. As a result of her not denouncing
communication with God and heaven, she was burned at the stake. She was canonized in 1920 by the Catholic
Church. Her inspiration is far reaching
even into the current time.
Queen Elizabeth was known as the Virgin Queen for her
refusal to marry and allow a man to control her possessions, life, and her
country. She was an independent and
strong woman. She was highly
intelligent, she was fluent in 6 languages and she had a sharp political mind,
something she no doubt gained for herself and inherited from her father King
Henry VIII and mother Queen Anne Boleyn.
Her long and enduring reign is considered one of the greatest in England’s
history. Her reign was one fraught with
uncertainties and her throne was always under threat by internal and external
enemies; enemies that she crushed with political strategy, military might, and
loyal aids. Arts in England also
flourished; she personally attended the first ever showing of Shakespeare’s “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Her reign
lasted for 45 years.
Young Victoria was crowned the Queen of England at the age
of 18. Queen Victoria ruled England at
the height of empire. At her death it
was said the sun never set on the English empire. She ruled a vast empire that progressed
industrially and economically.
Unfortunately, much like Deborah, Joan of Arc, and Queen Elizabeth I,
Queen Victoria’s life was also fraught with dangers as she endured at least 7
attempts on her life. Through hard work,
and enduring the death of her close husband, she showed the country that she
was up to the challenge of exerting influence throughout the realm. With the rise of Constitutional Monarchy she
still worked hard to let the voice of the monarch be heard. She was the first English monarch to travel
by train. Her reign of 64 years was the
longest in Britain’s history.
…
Granted he
just slightly touched on them more information was added for each great woman
in history individually to give more justice to their accomplishments and to
their names. The women above are just some
women that Mill briefs touches on in this great work.
Mill uses
these examples to prove women are just as capable as men in succeeding in political
life, which disproves the myth that women are no capable of ruling or being involved
in politics. He explains women are self-educated
and learn independently as they are often forced to do as a result of
discrimination in education.
Mill also addresses
the pitiful myth that men are more intelligent than women because of their
smaller brain. Mill states this belief
is often credited to women being physically smaller; as a result women must be
less intelligent than men, for men are larger.
Mill draws larger men into the argument and states because these men are
larger than they must be more intelligent than all other men, and likely so is
an elephant vastly more intelligent than that of a man because elephants vastly
outweighs human men. Essentially, Mill
sees this argument as tremendously absurd.
Fortunately for the future development, women are beginning to test the
waters of science, art, and philosophy.
No doubt, Mill is proud of the fact that many women are getting involved
in those fields.
Mill
explains women are behind in many things because often marriage and family
duties take her away from doing more and learning more; she is at the disposal
of everybody. Finally, Mill urges men to
get involved in the struggle for women’s equality, to fight to improve life for
women.
Chapter 4
“If there is anything vitally important to the
happiness of human beings, it is that they should relish their habitual
pursuit.”
Mill tackles male privilege by
addressing that boys are brought up to believe they are superior in every way of
their female opposites. They are born to
a privileged lifestyle compared to females, a privileged lifestyle gained
purely upon the sex they were born as.
Kings are drawn into this analysis.
Kings, by being born a King, think themselves superior in every way to
all of his subjects, just as nobles do to theirs, and men to their wives. Mill points out a better sense of superiority
not found in birth but by hard work and personal achievement.
Towards the
final chapter of this work, Mill, explains the benefits of equality.
Where to read on the
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