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Unit 13: John Stuart Mill: His Life and Theory of Liberty

This was ensured through education, training and the socialization process. Women from childhood Notes
were taught to be submissive, yielding and accommodating, rather than become independent
with self-will and self-control. They were taught to live for others, their husbands and children.
Selfless devotion was considered to be the best feminine trait, the glory of womanhood.
When we put together three things—first, the natural attraction between opposite
sexes, secondly the wife’s entire dependence on the husband, every privilege or pleasure
she has being either his gift, or depending entirely on his will; and lastly, that the
principal object of human pursuit, consideration, and all objects of social ambition, can
in general be sought or obtained by her only through him, it would be a miracle if the
object of being attractive to men had not become the polar star of feminine education
and formation of character .
Sexual relations which were based on force gradually softened, and with the progress of society
from status to contract, it came to rest on consent. In case of a pre-contractual social arrangement,
birth determined one’s position and privileges, while modern society was characterized by the
principle of equality. Every individual enjoyed greater freedom of choice to pursue his own life
and improve his faculties. However, women continued to be denied this opportunity, for they
were still born to a particular place, and were not free to do what they chose to. Paradoxical as it
seemed, the modern world accepted the general social practice of human equality, but not gender
equality. For Mill, denying women an equal position only demeaned a man.
A most beneficial change, if the companionship were between equals; but being
unequals it produces ... a progressive deterioration among men in what had hitherto
been considered the masculine excellences. Those who are so careful that women
should not become men, do not see that men are becoming, what they have decided
that women should be, are falling into the feebleness which they have so long cultivated
in their companions. Those who are associated in their lives, tend to become assimilated
in character. In the present closeness of association between the sexes, men cannot
retain manliness unless women acquire it .
Here Mill echoed the sentiments of his father, who too felt that men would be debased if they
exercised dominance and power over their women. For both father and son, the ideal was a
compassionate marriage between a strong-minded man and a strong-minded woman. Like
Wollstonecraft, John Stuart believed that women could earn their liberation with the support of
men. Both presented a reasonable critique of male domination within marriage. Mill extended it
by pleading for a relationship based on mutual friendship and respect.
Like Wollstonecraft, Mill rejected the contention that the nature of women differed from that of
men, and that a woman’s nature was contrived and artificial. He dismissed the idea that the
nature of women was different, because no one had ever seen a free woman in a free society. If
women were the way they were, it was because of years of suppression and domination, and had
nothing to do with their natures or dispositions. He subscribed to the view that, by and large,
human nature and character were shaped by the circumstances in which individuals were found,
and was sanguine that unless and until women were granted freedom, they could not express
themselves. The process itself could take longer, but that could not be the basis for denying
women the freedom and opportunities for their fullest development.
Like Wollstonecraft, Mill believed that women were as bright and gifted as men, and once granted
the same “eagerness for fame”, women would achieve the same success. Moreover, a judgement
regarding capacities and talent in women could be made only after generations of women benefited
from equal opportunities for education and employment. He rejected the idea that it was natural
for a woman to be a mother, and a wife, and felt that it was the woman who should be able to
decide whether to marry and manage a house, or to pursue a career. He contended that it was
society, however, that had decided marriage to be the ultimate aim of a woman.

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