“Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour
This paper considers an oft-criticised passage of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, arguing that Mill’s position is misunderstood. In this passage, Mill identifies a trilemma facing women in non-ideal circumstances. Two elements of this can be satisfied, but not all three, so long as men...
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| Format: | Article |
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Imprint Academic
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46386/ |
| _version_ | 1848797315659202560 |
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| author | McCabe, Helen |
| author_facet | McCabe, Helen |
| author_sort | McCabe, Helen |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper considers an oft-criticised passage of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, arguing that Mill’s position is misunderstood. In this passage, Mill identifies a trilemma facing women in non-ideal circumstances. Two elements of this can be satisfied, but not all three, so long as men continue to refuse to perform their domestic responsibilities. In these non-ideal circumstances, Mill privileges justice over autonomy – women ought only to be asked to do their fair share of labour, which, if they chose to marry and have children, will mean it is unfair to ask them also to work full-time outside the home. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:01:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-46386 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:01:56Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Imprint Academic |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-463862020-05-04T19:24:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46386/ “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour McCabe, Helen This paper considers an oft-criticised passage of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, arguing that Mill’s position is misunderstood. In this passage, Mill identifies a trilemma facing women in non-ideal circumstances. Two elements of this can be satisfied, but not all three, so long as men continue to refuse to perform their domestic responsibilities. In these non-ideal circumstances, Mill privileges justice over autonomy – women ought only to be asked to do their fair share of labour, which, if they chose to marry and have children, will mean it is unfair to ask them also to work full-time outside the home. Imprint Academic 2018-01-01 Article PeerReviewed McCabe, Helen (2018) “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour. History of Political Thought, 39 (1). pp. 135-155. ISSN 0143-781X John Stuart Mill; family; justice; history of political thought; family. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/imp/hpt/2018/00000039/00000001/art00007 |
| spellingShingle | John Stuart Mill; family; justice; history of political thought; family. McCabe, Helen “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title | “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title_full | “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title_fullStr | “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title_short | “Good housekeeping”? Re-assessing John Stuart Mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| title_sort | “good housekeeping”? re-assessing john stuart mill’s position on the gendered division of labour |
| topic | John Stuart Mill; family; justice; history of political thought; family. |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46386/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46386/ |