John Stuart Mill's The Subjection Of Women

Throughout history, women have been both underestimated and rejected by a patriarchal society which was known as the nineteenth-century. The nineteenth century was a period of time where women were being morally dehumazined almost being treated as if they were slaves. At the time gender equality was non-existent for the males were seen superior while the females were seen and treated as inferiors of society. The cause of this gender imbalance was the deprivation of just opportunities, marriages, and education. The nineteenth century was filled with unjust opportunities for women. In this patriarchal society, men were the superior gender, while women were the inferior gender. John Stuart Mill states in his book The Subjection of Women, “…the mode in which women are wholly under the rule
of men, having no share at all in public, concerns, and each in private being under the legal obligation of obedience to the man whom she has associated her destiny.” To digest this quote, John Stuart Mill tries to illustrate that women had no power in the nineteenth century.
If they had different views on a certain subject, no one would listen. Furthermore, John Stuart Mill adds that it is the women’s obligation to serve the male who she married. Margaret Fuller, a woman from the nineteenth century, adds to John Stuart Mill’s statement by saying “The man furnishes the house; the woman regulates.” What Margaret Fuller saw in society, were the women being the nurtures or housewives while the men would go to work providing for their family. As nurtures or housewives’ women would tend to the farms and cleaned the house daily for the arrival of their husband or any guest. After, having done chores the women then adopt their second job which nurturing their children. By using the word nurturing, it means that the women would care her children by either educating them or feeding them until they were all grown up, then society would take them and grant them opportunities according to their gender. The life of the women can be clearly depicted by Dorothy Hartman, a historian, article on the Conner Prairie website when she argues, “Women’s popular literature of the period is full of advice about encouragement for
proper housekeeping. Implicit in this advice is the notion that by keeping a clean, neat, pious home and filling it with warmth and inviting smells, women are achieving their highest calling.” The point Dorothy Hartman argues is that women would want to be a perfect housekeeper therefore, these books would be invented to show the women how to improve their jobs of being a housekeeper. The reason why women were seen as nothing more than just nurtures or housekeepers was because they were being brainwashed by society. Society would command women to play the roles of a mother (nurturer) and the guardian of the household because it was their God-given role. Dorothy Hartman points out, “Women’s God-given role, it stated, was as wife and mother, keeper of the household, guardian of the moral purity of all who lived therein.” As mentioned by Dorothy, Society places these labels on women that their only roles in life are to be a housewife and nurture because God intended it to be this way, this meant no opportunities were given to the women to prove what they are worth. They were just bread and feed the idea, that life has nothing more form them. The highlight of their life would be getting married. Marriages were high sought after by women, after this was the highlight of their life. In a marriage a vow between husband and wife are made to ensure justice, empathy, and most importantly equality, yet in the nineteenth century these were just empty promises.