John Stuart Mill, Ahead of His Time

John Mill was well known in the Victorian era for his radical views on women's suffrage. In his The Subjection of Women, he provides many examples as the why women have wrongfully been (lawfully) under the severe rule of men. Even now, in the 21 century, his ideas are ones we struggle with in society; with glass ceilings, and male salaries still higher than female salaries, our society has not granted complete equality (even though lawfully we have).

Mill begins his argument by claiming that "the legal subordination of one sex to the other--is wrong itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement" (page 521), and unanbashingly displays his belief that society can only improve with the removing of the lawful control of men over women. He goes on to explain that if this system of men over women had been decided upon due to previous experience and practice, then it would be acceptable, however, as he points out that "the opinion in favour of the present system...rests upon theory only; for there never has been trial made of any other" (page 521). Even now, we rarely see women in strong roles of power; in the 2008 presidential election, many people questions the female candidates' ability in an office solely due to the fact that they were female. While women have been granted full freedom (the right to run for office and vote) since 1920, and many have shown they are more than capable, people still question women purely for the fact that they are female.

Mill also explains that (which I agree with) "all women are brought up from the very earliest of years in the belief that their ideal of character is the very opposite of men; not self-will, and government by self-control, but submission, and yielding to the control of others" (page 523). Back in the Victorian era, women were not only literally under the lawful control of their husbands, but also were taught to submit in personality (brought on by ""forced repression in some direction, [and] unnatural stimulation in others" (page 524)). Mill shows great forward thinking in concluding that females were submissive in nature from their upbringing. He also shows radical notions (for his time) in his claim that "what women by nature cannot do, it is quite superfluous to forbid them from doing. What they can do, but not so well as the men who are their competitors, competition suffices to exclude them from" (page 526). While this claim is perfectly correct in its assumption that one who can perform a job better then another would be given that occupation, we still struggle with the exclusion of women based purely on sexist ideas.

While we have made great progress in granting freedom and rights to everyone lawfully, we still struggle as a society to follow these rules, and to not let biased opinions get in our way. Many of these opinions are due to past views and opinions that are generated from society itself, and are taught from an early age for us to uphold. Think about it, many parents encourage boys to play rough and tumble and be rambunctious, boisterous children, and encourage girls to play with dolls and to be quiet, gentle creatures. Many of our opinions and beliefs we hold as society are still not founded upon fact and experience, but rather what appears to be experience, insofar as women have always been quiet, gentle, and motherly; however, when you also look back in history, you will find that women have been dominated and taught to behave in this nature for centuries. Granted, it has been proven that physically boys are typically stronger than girls, however, is that reason enough to ban and prevent girls from trying? Only when we can encourage our children to grow in a non-influenced manner and find and do what they love will we have a society that is truly equal.