Feminist Political and Social Philosophy: Mill, Friedan, Stanton, Wollstonecraft, Taylor, and Woolf

Study flashcards testing key theories, arguments, quotes, and historical contexts from seminal feminist texts by John Stuart Mill, Betty Friedan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor, and Virginia Woolf.

What is the core argument of John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women (1869)?

Mill argues that the legal subordination of women in marriage is unjust and that it harms men, women, and society as a whole.

Why does John Stuart Mill compare married women to slaves under 19th-century law?

Both lack property rights, legal protection, and means of escape under coverture. Mill asserts wives are worse off in certain respects because they have no off-duty time, no legal right to refuse their husbands, and no rights over their children.

Why does Mill describe the traditional family as a "school of despotism"?

Because unequal marriage trains individuals in command and obedience rather than equality, preventing them from learning the virtues of sympathy and living together as equals.

What two primary benefits does Mill identify in Chapter 4 if women are granted equal freedom?

(1) Ending male dominance in the home would improve men's moral character, and (2) allowing women to use their abilities would double the pool of talent and intellectual resources available to society.

Why does Mill claim domestic abuse cannot be eliminated while legal male authority remains?

Legal power is granted indiscriminately to all husbands, including brutal ones, and can only be checked by public opinion among similar men; therefore, abuse cannot be curtailed while the legal structure of power exists.

What are the three stages of historical moral progress outlined by John Stuart Mill?

History progresses from a morality of submission, to a morality of chivalry or protection, and finally to a morality of justice based on equality.

What was the legal principle of coverture as described in Mill's text?

Coverture is the legal doctrine of "one person in law," whereby a wife's legal identity and property are absorbed into her husband's upon marriage.

How do "separate-use settlements" fall short of true equality in Mill's view?

They serve as a limited legal workaround accessible only to the wealthy and still fail to give married women genuine autonomy or control.

What is "the problem that has no name" identified by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique (1963)?

A widespread, unspoken dissatisfaction, emptiness, and depression experienced by middle-class American suburban housewives in the 1950s and early 1960s who asked themselves, "Is this all?"

What is the "feminine mystique" according to Betty Friedan?

The cultural ideal post-World War II asserting that women can only achieve true fulfillment through femininity, marriage, and motherhood, and that desiring independent pursuits is unfeminine or neurotic.

What historical demographic trends after World War II evidenced American women's retreat from independence?

The average marriage age dropped, the birthrate soared, women's college attendance fell from $47\%$ in 1920 to $35\%$ in 1958, and many dropped out of university to earn a "Ph.T." ("Putting Husband Through").

How did mid-century medical and psychological experts fail women according to Friedan?

They dismissed women's discontent as individual adjustment problems, neuroses, or poor sexual adjustment, recommending tranquilizers, hobbies, or sex advice rather than questioning the restrictive domestic ideal.

Why does Betty Friedan reject material explanations for "the problem that has no name"?

The dissatisfaction affected women across economic backgrounds—whether their husbands earned $\$5{,}000$ or $\$50{,}000$—demonstrating that it was not caused by poverty, lack of material comfort, or physical hardship, but was a "hunger that food cannot fill."

What does Friedan mean by the phrase "chains in her own mind"?

Women were constrained not merely by physical chores, but by internalized cultural expectations, mistaken ideas of femininity, and unreal choices that robbed them of their independent identity.

What is the central philosophical thesis of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "The Solitude of Self" (1892)?

Every human being is ultimately alone and responsible for their own life; therefore, each individual must have full education, legal rights, and political sovereignty to navigate life's inevitable burdens.

What are the four aspects of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's argument for women's individual rights?

A woman is (1) an individual responsible for her own soul (the "Robinson Crusoe" image), (2) a citizen with equal constitutional rights, (3) an equal factor in civilization entitled to full development, and (4) only incidentally a mother, wife, sister, or daughter.

How does Stanton's "life-voyage" metaphor justify women's complete education and independence?

Because each person must be the "captain, pilot, engineer" of their own craft on life's stormy seas, women must be taught the "laws of navigation" rather than being left helpless.

Why does Elizabeth Cady Stanton reject the argument that women should rely on male protection?

She calls protection a "mockery" because life's trials, illness, and tragedies hit women directly, and no man can substitute for another soul in supreme moments like childbirth or death.

What analogies does Stanton use to describe the denial of women's education and property rights?

Denying education is like "putting out the eyes," and denying property rights is like "cutting off the hands."

Why does Stanton argue against gender-restricted, separate educational curricula for women?

Faculties left undeveloped for a presumed domestic role may be the exact capabilities urgently required in unexpected crises and life emergencies.

What is Mary Wollstonecraft's central argument in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)?

Women appear frivolous, weak, and cunning not by nature, but because a defective educational and social system denies them the exercise of reason and forces them to depend on pleasing men.

What is Wollstonecraft's primary critique of thinkers like Rousseau and Milton?

They portray women's ideal state as one of soft docility, ignorance, and pleasing obedience, which reduces women to a perpetual "state of childhood" and turns them into "gentle, domestic brutes."

What does Wollstonecraft mean by the claim that "rights and duties are inseparable"?

Individuals cannot be held morally responsible for civic or domestic duties (such as rational parenting) unless they are granted the rights and independence necessary to exercise reason.

How does Wollstonecraft use the analogy of soldiers to critique women's socialization?

Soldiers and women both acquire superficial knowledge and manners because they are thrown into society before their faculties of reason have been systematically educated and developed.

How does society's obsession with rank and property corrupt morality according to Wollstonecraft?

It prioritizes wealth and status over duty, fostering "voluptuous tyrants" at the top and servile, "cunning dependents" below.

What does Wollstonecraft mean by calling for a "revolution in female manners"?

A fundamental transformation in women's education, independence, and social status that enables them to develop reason, thereby purifying marriage, parenting, and society.

What was the legal meaning of the term "cypher" in Wollstonecraft's historical context?

A legal non-entity; a wife who is reduced to zero or nothing under the law, possessing no independent legal existence apart from her husband.

What is Harriet Taylor's primary argument in "Enfranchisement of Women"?

Women are entitled to equal political, civil, and social rights, as their exclusion is a product of historic custom and physical force rather than natural incapacity.

Why does Harriet Taylor reject historical custom as a justification for women's subordination?

Subordination originated from primitive physical force, where the physically stronger ruled the weaker; mere historical custom cannot morally justify continuing inequality in a civilized society.

What does Harriet Taylor define as the "proper sphere" for any human being?

The largest and highest sphere that an individual is capable of attaining, which can only be determined through complete freedom of choice and practical experience.

How do men benefit from women's equality according to Harriet Taylor?

Men benefit from true intellectual companionship, as genuine mental development requires "communion between active minds" rather than association with an intellectual inferior.

In Chapter 2 of A Room of One's Own, why does Virginia Woolf question the objectivity of male professors?

Their scholarly treatises are driven by anger and emotional investment ("red light of emotion"), suggesting they claim female inferiority to protect and justify their own patriarchal authority.

Why is the relationship between Chloe and Olivia significant in Chapter 5 of Woolf's A Room of One's Own?

It depicts women as authentic friends and scientific collaborators in a laboratory, breaking literature's historic habit of portraying women solely in relation to men or as romantic rivals.

Who is Judith Shakespeare in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, and what does she represent?

A fictional, equally gifted sister of William Shakespeare who died tragically without writing a word, symbolizing the lost genius of women whose creativity was crushed by lack of money, education, and freedom.

What are the primary material requirements Woolf identifies for creative and intellectual achievement?

Financial independence (five hundred pounds a year), private space (a room of one's own with a lock on the door), education, and freedom from domestic servitude.