JS MILLS

By: Jenna, Malika, and the Yas(a)mins

Historical Context- 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 WritingAccording 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 SocietyJohn 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”