John Sturat Mill on the road to equality between women

liberte.pl 1 year ago

The subjection of women And Mill's thought, born in collaboration with Harriet Taylor, was a milestone on the way to what women present have: electoral rights, equality guaranteed in many constitutions, many provisions on free access to posts and offices.

John Stuart Mill is simply a character that fewer people gotta introduce. Philosopher, economist, besides known as the father of liberalism and... feminist. He collaborated with suffragists and advocated granting women voting rights. Though faced with crushing opposition, he gave an crucial impulse to fight for women's rights. His thought in this area was greatly influenced first by a co-worker, later his wife – Harriet Taylor. It was this female who drew the philosopher’s attention to the situation in matrimony and the submissive position of her gender. In 1832 they spent together Marriage and Divorce essays. Mill's wife had an effect on the philosopher's next works, as evidenced by even The subjection of women issued in 1869, after her death. Many of the records there have already expired, and any were controversial for contemporary Mill feminists.

However, there is no uncertainty that The subjection of women should be included in the list of readings of anyone curious in women's rights and their history, even though as an crucial evidence of the way a feminist thought has passed since the 19th century to our modern times, and as an expression of hope that changes – even those which present may appear as revolutionary – have the chance to take place in conditions of cooperation and exchange of thought.

Will it be easy? No, but it never was. large changes, large thoughts, and large accomplishments, however, do not arise from simple decisions. It is besides worth adding that these large things are not simply influenced by the words or feathers of large leaders. It takes hundreds, thousands of even tiny people and their tiny actions to accomplish it. Mill seemed to know this very well, and although the road on which Harriet Taylor and Harriet were crucial passers-bys has not yet reached the end, it is worth looking at.

Stronger Law

Who would now dare to claim the right to control another individual without exposing themselves to ridicule or simply legal effects, abuse or mobbing? It would seem that no one. In Mill's time, there have been cases like this, happening today.

Mill compares the power of men over women to despotic power. I am stronger than the race (nation) which I managed to conquer, so I am entitled to power. Today, in the public space, supporters of democracy and egalitarianism do not scope for this kind of rhetoric, on the contrary – pacts, conventions and papers aimed at preserving peace and protecting the rights of all people (no substance their status, race, religion, gender, ethnicity or strength) against force and all persecution have more and more signatories.

On the another hand, armed conflicts, assaults and reports of the actions of despotic rulers remind us that no rights, no freedom in any sense of it, are given forever. Laws and ideals are something to be guarded. Sooner or later, there might be individual on the horizon who might be curious in your autonomy.

Mill notes that events from the political phase are shaped by individuals who have raised a lot from home, being shaped in specified a way alternatively than in another way. This leads him to consider the situation of women. W Female Subjection 1 of the leaders of liberal thought seeks answers to the question of the origin of the order in which the man is the ruler, and the woman, as she turns out, a slave. Mill sees that “he arose in the dawn of social existence erstwhile all female became a slave to a man (thanks either to the value men attached to her or to the lower strength of their muscles)”[1]. And so, for years, "what was in the beginning the consequence of violent force, they have turned [the laws and political systems—the ed.] into the right to guarantee that it is sanctioned by society and to search to replace unlawful physical combat by public means"[2].

Author Female Subjections notes that past gives us a sad lesson, in which it explains that property, happiness, and yet the lives of certain classes of men were respected as far as they could defend them themselves. This yet began to change, with the attitude of Jews and stoics starting, through lofty declarations and fragile promises, to legal acts ending.

One might wonder, how did it happen that certain violent institutions lasted so long? And then, why do they proceed to be reborn or reborn in any places? Mill claims that they “restored to an era of specified developed civilization, due to the fact that they were recognized with all due respect that they were best suited to human nature and served the general welfare”[3].

Yes... what a common argument. Don't you know how to explain something? Simple, tell me that's what nature says and it's been like forever. This is simply a good motive to apply both in terms of order in the planet (one of the popularist's favourite weapons) and at home. Ba, even Master Aristotle claimed that it is natural that there are types of people created for freedom (e.g. Greeks) and captivity (barbaric tribes of Asia and Thrace).

While noting how the feelings depend on the custom, Mill stated that “the subjection of a female to a man is simply a common custom, so the withdrawal from the boundaries of that customized seems to be contrary to nature”[4]. But who has the right to make claims about what women are in nature and what their desires are?

The Nature of Women

So what is human nature? Since the subject of these considerations is mainly women, the following analysis will be focused on them. Stereotypes, general convictions and celebrated “boyly reason” place a female at home where she should devote herself to moving a household and raising children. Mill does not stay blind to what truly creates this “nature”. He sees that “what they present call the nature of a female is the consequence of a coercive trait in 1 direction and excitement against nature—in the other. As far as women are concerned, they have been utilized for greenhouse farming, developing these abilities that could have provided their masters with benefit and pleasure"[5].

For centuries, women have been raised and trained to be mothers and wives. Breeded to delight husbands and to direct their desires towards men, and to husbands and children feelings. There was no area for electoral rights, possession of own property or the right to object or to leave immediately in case of violence, including sexual violence.

Mill notes that “all women since their childhood are raised in the belief that the perfect of their character is the other of the character of a man;... They tell us in the name of morality that a female should live for others, and in the name of feeling that her nature needs it; it means that she should completely deny her own tastes, and live her allowed only the affection of her husband and children who constitute a fresh and inseparable relation between her and the man she joins... a miracle would be essential so that the desire to delight a man does not become a polar star in her upbringing and character."[6].

The reflections presented by Mill are not detached from reality. People with pedagogical and/or philosophical interests may be acquainted with the reading of a philosopher who formulated his thoughts little than a century before the author Female Subjections. The 18th-century thinker, John Jacob Rousseau, known among others for his views on upbringing. Their writing can be found in their very extended work, Emil, or Education. This work consists of 5 books. The first 4 give an accurate description of how the kid is raised. It is compulsory to be fed by a parent (not a mammoth), developed in stages indicated by a superb educator. A male should be a educator, and it is recommended to live in the countryside in order to be close to nature. You don’t go consecutive to learning from textbooks (according to Rousseau, they limit your ability to think for yourself). First you request to take care of strength, skill and applicable reasoning (negative education), then you gotta reflect on the surrounding world, the learning of the profession and (not earlier than 15 years old) the shaping of conscience, a conscious choice of religion (preferably suggested by the author of natural religion, close to east religions).

What is in the 5th book? Information about raising girls. It will not be amazing that their education takes the form of equipping them to service as wives and mothers. They do not make another talents or skills that could be besides distracting from caring for the husband and his happiness and the birth and upbringing of children. The book's heroine, Sophia, has been raised since birth to marry Emil. After a romanticist encounter with a boy who was raised, however, they do not immediately marry. Emil is going on a abroad journey to learn about different models of government and to make certain of the stableness of his feelings. Sophie at this time... is waiting for her lover [7].

Such reflections and hopes inactive sound to this day (although fortunately not so loudly, or possibly more opposed) in the mouth of “traditional supporters”, on many ambons and in the hearts of people who, too sex, may have small to offer the planet and dream of “old, good, natural order”.

Many men have responded to this. Mill noted that they “presented to them [women—at ed.] weakness, relinquishing their own will in favour of a man as the quintessentialness of female attraction”[8].

Gentleness, charm, being charming, beautiful and perfectly passive – these lures have been singing pop culture for years, showing women as grateful ladies in beautiful dresses and men as brave knights, striving to find them, to save them, preferably from the clutches of a dragon or a witch (usually ugly, angry, pissed off single) and to marry. specified stories are included in early Disney. quite a few stories, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella is Little Mermaid They were based on uncovering the prince and dreaming of him. The least time Aurora had (Sleeping Beauty) which most of the movie about herself just slept, waiting for the Prince to wake her with a kiss. Later, these patterns were gradually broken (Pocahontas, Mulan, Merida, Vaiana or Elsa and Anna). So much for fairy tales. mainstreamum. It's a pity they didn't break through to him with specified a strong fable from different parts of the planet as if Lady Ragnell. This is not a fresh communicative written under "subversive feminist rhetoric". It originates from the British folklore (near our Polish yard, virtually from Mill's yard). It was created in the 14th century and tells of a medieval witch who helps a knight caught in a warlock's trap to answer the world's hardest question: What do women want? What a surprise it was to find out that their dream was simply to choose for themselves. erstwhile woman Ragnell herself received her freedom, the spell cast upon her broke and became a free, beautiful female with a loving husband who was her partner, not a indulgence of God or a gracious master [9].

The Power of Free Choice in Marriage

Speaking of marriage, it's known that the women that Mill mentioned erstwhile he wrote The subjection of womenMost of them weren't as fortunate as woman Ragnell. As it has already been established, they were raised to their “real vocation” as mothers and wives. A well-known utilitarian states that "while looking at the course of things, men would think that this expected calling of women is what they naturally feel most disgusted about; that if they had the freedom to act differently, if they were allowed to usage their own time and abilities, the number of those who would voluntarily take the position they consider natural to them would be insufficient" [10]. This rhetoric Mill compares, among another things, to the arguments of the Slavery Defenders in Louisiana and South Carolina, which was based on the fact that a white man does not want to undertake the cultivation of sugarcane and cotton. Black people would not halt on the wage offered, so they simply should be forced to work. Until it comes to the mouth of saying, "Pay them well, that won't be a problem." I'm certain Mill must have had a small pressure, too, due to the fact that he suggested it in his text. Better yet, he transferred that argument to the situation of women. He wrote thesis on why contemporary men can feel disgusted at equality between women and what is interesting is not fear of aversion to marriage. First of all, the fear is that they can request “a decent payment” — marital equality. Secondly, “the pride of their [men’s] is the feeling that all women with abilities and character will like any work not demeaning, than a matrimony giving them a master, to whom all they have on earth are compelled to sacrifice” [11].. However, Mill does not go to generalization on all men. He notes that “if men want to stay in command that the law of matrimony is to be despotism, they have the full right in their own interests, giving women no choice” [12]. Thus, equality in matrimony is not in the interests of only despotic men and those who seek, in relationships, not partnerships but subjects. However, Mill himself noted that the matrimony in his day was already somewhat progressive – the necessity to marry was a step forward after the kidnappings or sale by his father.

The power of free choice in career

The philosopher besides considers the situation of women on the labour market. Of course, he lived in a time erstwhile women's secular work was almost impossible to own any individual property, as was access to most professions. Typically, deficiency of access was explained by women's incompetence, their lower education or simply "it is not a occupation for women." Mill, however, has a simple way to very easy dissipate candidates and candidates good from bad: competition. Yeah, it's not a fresh solution and it doesn't come up with a fresh wheel. In competitions for which men have a monopoly, this is the way people choose to usage their services. With this simple procedure, Mill reveals the hypocrisy and claim of men. There is simply a hazard that society will want more to usage the services of capable women than average men. Here, Mill smoothly conducts his speech, reflecting arguments like a tennis player on a court. To claim that women are incapable to exercise authority/take specified a position Mill replies: “If government laws of a country exclude an unfit man, they will besides exclude an unfit woman” [13]. Further to the argument that women are more nervous, the philosopher says: “Are tense men considered unfit for the duties and activities that men usually perform?” [14]. proceeding that women are besides sensitive, Mill asks: “French and Italians have no uncertainty more delicate nerves of nature than the Teutonic races, and even compared to the English, are they more likely to experience everyday life: were their scholars, politicians, legislators, officials, warriors and strategists little outstanding?” [15].

In the light of these considerations, there is no barrier to differences in the level of intelligence or competence. Turns out it could just be competition.

Benefits of equality

Is equality necessary, therefore, since it seems to be only a competition for men? Of course. Mill finds many advantages in it. As the first and main point, justice will regulate the most common and deep interpersonal relations. There will be no place for unfair exaltation among others and selfishness. A man in a partnership relation can truly have a wife, not a servant or lover. This will contribute to the fact that the planet will catch up with its ideals, among which advanced on the list is that “it is merit, not birth, that is the only legal title to respect and power” [16].. Another advantage of equality, according to Mill, is “the recovery of the sum of the intellectual abilities that humanity has for its use” [17].. Here there is simply a simple causal law: more intellectuals and scientists give a chance for faster development, more competition contributes to better quality of services. Partnership-based relations and the challenge and incentive for each another to make are beneficial for both partners.

Finally, Mill pointed to a direct win and the large benefit of liberating half of humanity by turning individual else's will into the freedom that reason directs. The liberal philosopher notes that after food and clothing it is freedom that is the top human need, the ability to direct its actions according to conscience, sense of work and, finally, passion.

Conclusion (not yet)

Does all of this mean that women are to abandon their own children now, to divorce and to work extensively, holding men home for the next centuries in retaliation?

No, definitely not. What Mill advocated was equality and a change in the patriarchal order of the world, in which women are subject to their husbands, fathers, brothers. He raised issues of electoral rights, access to the labour market, self-determination.

Of course, these were not faultless demands – Mill felt that women should do specified work that would not prevent them from moving a home that was inactive their duty. However, it is best that the work is done by women without children, widows or married women who have already raised their children. present specified an argument would be mocked, but in the 19th century his thesis was groundbreaking and controversial.

It is simply a milestone, but not the end of the road. erstwhile the rights (or lower barriers on the way to them) should be constantly tried. This is shown by examples from our yard, specified as the judgement of the 2020 Court of Mallebska Julia or a video of the Patriarchate Association circulating on the net before the elections, whose demands included making women a "part of the property" of men. specified ideas, though not unresponsive, inactive appear.

This shows that, in addition to the changes in law, which, though slow and haphazardly, are taking place in many countries, changes in social awareness and in the beliefs of women and men are besides necessary. Mill himself pointed out more than a 100 years ago that in his speech on equality there is simply a “fight with common and deep-rooted affection” [18].. This means that even the most elevated changes in law will do nothing if they do not go hand in hand with changes in mentality and conviction. Yet, equality is not about taking a fewer 100 years of revenge on men, locking them in the home and declaring fresh rule. Nope. The point is that both women and men feel safe with each another as they are. For women who want to do so to take care of the house, not by the orders of the parish priest, older neighbors, and partners, but by their own desire, love, and choice. For men to go to the “Dad” without shame. For women and men to work out of passion and desire to gain income, alternatively than of the request to make the expectations considered universal. There's plenty of area for everyone.

[1] J.S. Mill, A typical government. The subjection of women, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak 1995, p 288.

[2] Ibid. p. 289.

[3] Ibid. p. 290.

[4] Ibid. p.296.

[5] Ibid. p. 305.

[6] Ibid., pp. 298-299.

[7] Vide Rousseau J. J., Emil, or Education, Wrocław: Ossolinski Names Plant –

Publishing home of Polish Academy of Sciences 1955.

[8] S. Mill, op. cit., p. 299.

[9] Vide Lady Ragnell, in: M. Sayalero: Fairy tales that were not read to girls, Warsaw: Colony 2019, pp. 77-90.

[10] S. Mill, op. cit., p. 311.

[11] Ibid. p. 311-312.