Given his work "On the Subjection of Women," in which he advocates for women's education and
"perfect equality," Mill is also cited as an early feminist.
When it came to the issue of women, Mill applied the principles of liberalism to the issue and advocated for improving their position by providing them with opportunities for employment, suffrage, and education. He thought of this as a problem that affected everyone, not just women.
In his book "On the Subjection of Women," he argued that society should be organized on the basis of "reason" rather than "accident of birth" principles like sex. Plant held that human person is completely a result of childhood, as opposed to the consequence of one's natural sex.
Mill was most concerned about equality as a constitutional right. Mill believed that marriage was comparable to slavery in that it required total obedience to a husband and stripped the wife of her property and legal personhood.
The English law of the marriage contract from the middle of the 19th century served as Mill's reference point for the legal subordination of women. Women were only taught to live for the benefit of others and were praised for their selfless devotion. Mill also said that the English women of the time were treated differently
because there were no laws about raping spouses.
Plant challenged two contentions that were utilized to legitimize coercion of ladies:
- The first justification for women's inequality that Mill refuted was that it must be justified because it has historically been a universal practice. As a justification, he questioned the universality of practice by citing slavery as an example.
- Second, like Wollstonecraft, Mill opposed the idea that women and men had different natures. The years of dominance and suppression that women endured in society shaped their personalities.
Mill believed that women were rational, free beings who needed to be allowed to choose how they lived their lives instead of bowing to societal pressure. In light of the numerous instances of protest and discontent, Mill also refuted the claim that women were voluntarily accepting this subjugation.