The Subjection of Women

'The Subjection of Women' (1869) is an essay by John Stuart Mill, one of the earliest male proponents of gender equality. He talks about the role of women in marriage and how it needed to be changed. Mill comments on three major facets of women's lives that he felt are hindering them: society and gender construction, education, and marriage. He argued that the oppression of women was one of the few remaining relics from ancient times, a set of prejudices that severely impeded the progress of humanity.