John Stuart Mill

"It is necessary to society that women should marry and produce children. They will not do so unless they are compelled. Therefore it is necessary to compel them" (pg. 526). What in God's name is that??? I have never heard something so unbelievably ignorant in my 20 years of life and I've heard a lot. My initial thought upon reading the above atatement was of course how is it that men intended to "compel" these women to subject to marriage in the first place. As I continued to read I wound that they intended to "close all other doors against them" (pg. 526) in order to, in a sense, control them. But what are those "other doors" that they intend to close? Where they not going to allow women who went against the grain the opportunity to obtain a job; since there were SOOO many open opportunities for women to choose from.

I have to say though that I absolutely LOVE Mill!!! "The Subjection of Women" was the absolute best thing I have ever read coming from a man of all people. It really just makes me wonder what it was about his upbringing compared to that of everyone else's of that time that gave him such a different view of women and what their status in society should be. It's amazing that even after he got elected into Parliament he was still trying to make strides towards helping women gain equality in society. "Statement Repudiating the Rights of Husbands" was another good story/excerpt. I wonder how people back then reacted when they found out that he wanted his wife to retain all of her assests. Everything about Mill's work was just too awesome for words.