In the year 1869, John Stuart Mill published a controversial essay, “The Subjection of Women”, that advocated equality between sexes in a male-dominant society. In this essay, I will demonstrate that Mill’s analysis regarding the systematic subjection of women, by an education system producing conventional “womanly” characters favorable to men, is correct. However, I will argue that this analysis does not apply to today due to the advancement of the political rights and powers, progression of social equality, and improved economic conditions of women in countries with high education indexes. The education index is referring to the statistics on literacy rate, gross enrollment ratios, and other factors compiled by the UN that determine which countries have exemplary education.
In Mill’s analysis, he likens the subjection of women to the relationship between a master and a slave. Whereas the master commands the slave’s obedience through fear and force, according to Mill, men subject women through an institutionalized form of education. This system of education instills the idea that “all women are brought up from the very earliest years in the belief that their ideal of character is the very opposite of that of men; not self-will, and government by self-control, but submission and yielding to the control of others” (Mill 22). Furthermore, Mill mentions this method fulfills man’s desire to acquire the obedience of women through their willing disposition unlike the obedience found in a master-slave relationship. Mill’s analysis is further fueled from citations of examples of similar relationships throughout history such as plebian to patrician and serf to seigneur that solidifies the argument that men had subtly enslaved women’s min...
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Women of the nineteenth century had very set expectations. There were only two types of women: upper class bourgeoisie and lower class farmer’s wives or daughters. Women were considered physically weaker to men, which meant that they were best suited to the domestic sphere while the men workers and made the money. The mill girls defied all of this, and created their own class of women: wage earning middle class women. These women were not like farmers’ wives that were typically uneducated, nor like the bourgeoisie women that were educated, by mostly in domestic and “womanly” skills. The mill girls went to college if they so desired, most of the time doing that in the stead of getting married and becoming a housewife. The mill girls were a
King, B. G., Cornwall, M., &Dahlin, E. C. (2005). Winning woman suffrage one step at a time: Social movements and the logic of the legislative process. Social Forces, 83(3), 1211-1234.
Women throughout the suffrage act were faced with many challenges that eventually led into the leading roles of women in the world today. Suffrage leaders adopted new arguments to gain new support. Rather than insisting on the justice of women’s suffrage, or emphasizing equal rights, they spoke of the special moral and material instincts women could bring to the table. Because of these women taking leaps and boundaries, they are now a large part of America’s government, and how our country operates.
As mentioned above, women’s role were unjust to the roles and freedoms of the men, so an advanced education for women was a strongly debated subject at the beginning of the nineteenth century (McElligott 1). The thought of a higher chance of education for women was looked down upon, in the early decades of the nineteenth century (The American Pageant 327). It was established that a women’s role took part inside the household. “Training in needlecraft seemed more important than training in algebra” (327). Tending to a family and household chores brought out the opinion that education was not necessary for women (McElligott 1). Men were more physically and mentally intellectual than women so it was their duty to be the educated ones and the ones with the more important roles. Women were not allowed to go any further than grammar school in the early part of the 1800’s (Westward Expansion 1). If they wanted to further their education beyond grammar, it had to be done on their own time because women were said to be weak minded, academically challenged and could n...
How the Vote Was Won introduces the role of brave women in their journey to success of the national suffrage movement. Mead writes about the success that was brought by the women in the western states, and gives the readers an insight on the struggles of racism and elitism that played throughout the suffrage movement in the western states. In eight perceptive chapters, the authors focuses on a few states in the west, in which she explains the successes or failures of the campaigns for woman suffrage. Mead also addresses readers with significant descriptions of how the woman 's suffrage served as both economic and political justice giving women the right to vote.
In the early 20th century, many Americans perceived woman as unskilled and deficient, due to this woman have never gotten the chance to prove how they can positively affect society. Document A, Supports Woman states; “They still love their homes and their children just the same as ever, and are better able to protect themselves and their children because of the ballot”. If woman were given the right to vote it would not only have helped the society by having more opinions, but it would have also helped women protect themselves and their children by voting for things like better education. Supports Woman explains how giving woman the right ...
For thousands of years, women have struggled under the domination of men. In a great many societies around the world, men hold the power and women have to fight for their roles as equals in these patriarchal societies. Florence Nightingale wrote about such a society in her piece, Cassandra, and John Stuart Mill wrote further on the subject in his essay The Subjection of Women. These two pieces explore the same basic idea, but there are differences as well. While they both recognize its presence, Mill blames the subjection of women on custom, and Nightingale blames it on society. These appear to be different arguments, but they may be more similar than they seem.
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Through the use of messages such as public conventions, speeches, literary pieces, published works, unions, groups, and memorabilia, the suffrage movement’s goal of achieving equal voting rights for women to be the same as men can be credited as providing the stomping grounds for women to seek a stronger hand in society and to the evolution of women’s rights to include equal freedoms to men in arenas such as education, the work force, and military involvement.
John Stuart Mill, in his essay The Subjection of Women, makes a daring exclamation about the position of women in society. He wrote this piece with the hope of opening other's eyes to the same conclusion he felt all of his life, in regards to equality.
Tharenou, Phyllis. "The Work of Feminists Is Not Yet Done: The Gender Pay Gap- a Stubborn Anachronism." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
According to Mill, men wanted women to tend to their needs without forcing them. A wife who seemed to be forced to serve their husband ...