John Stuart Mill: A Liberal Feminist

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This paper explains that John Stuart Mill is often classified as a Liberal Feminist because of his "Subjection of Women", which explores the concepts of Liberal and Radical Feminism in relation to Mill's theory of utilitarian and his ideas about women's place in economic and societal terms. The author points out that Liberal Feminism is a branch of feminism, which uses the language of liberty, rights and legal equality, as opposed to the radical branch of second wave feminism who believed that the main tenet of feminism was the oppression of women by men. The paper states that most of Mill's writings are concerned with middle- or upper-class married women and he favours the traditional division of labour within the family; this incongruous coupling of patriarchy and capitalism by John Stuart Mill and the Liberal Feminists is criticised.

From the Paper:

"John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was raised as a Utilitarian, influenced by Jeremy Bentham and his father, James Mill. His writings include On Liberty (1859), Utilitarianism (1863) and the Subjection of Women (1869), as well as many articles in various periodicals including the Utilitarian journal the Westminster Review. In 1851, after a long relationship he married Harriet Taylor, to whom he was apparently devoted, although her contribution to his work is disputed. To this Okin states: 'the difficult circumstances of their relationship must have increased the strength of his convictions, and of his determination to do what he could to have women's many disabilities remedied.' On her death in 1858 Mill was allegedly devastated: 'His despondency was frightful.'" His Utilitarian beginnings were at odds with his later liberal

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