Understanding a Philosopher’s Feelings About the Status of Women in the 19th Century

Review on the Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill

Today, in 2021, although there are many problems with gender equality in most countries around the world, humanity has made a certain progress compared to past centuries. Today, there is a woman who shows us that social equality benefits all humanity when given the opportunity and this woman deserves more until social equality is achieved. But what was the situation in the 19th century, when women first began to claim rights in a mass and organized manner, especially in England? I will try to analyze the answer to this question in the Subjection of Women by the famous philosopher John Stuart Mill, who is considered one of the first liberal feminists together with Mary Wollstonecraft.

The Subjection of Women (1869) is an essay of John Stuart Mill’s thoughts on women’s rights, which he developed under the influence of his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill. At the time of publication, the work had quite heavy and radical criticisms of Europe’s traditional political, legal, economic and moral system. Although we have significant improvement on women’s rights today, the essay still remains as up-to-date and important.