Can men speak for women? sit
Men and Feminism
4
This week, I most enjoyed reading John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women. It raises important questions about who can speak for whom. As Derek Stanovsky states, 'It is difficult to imagine a context where the interests of a speaker matter more than when speak on feminism..”[1]
At face value, Mill's essay seems to prove that men can speak for women. Being one of the earliest instances of a man supporting woman's rights in the mid 19th century, Mill unusually advocates for equality between men and women and fights on behalf of women. However, being heavily influenced by his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, we must question the notion authorship. How much of this essay comes from John himself? Is he truly agitating for women's rights or is he simply a successful method for Harriet Mill to get her views across as men were taken more seriously?
It is interesting to see how Mill constructs his argument knowing that his target audience will be men. Mill cleverly aims to change their minds about female equality by showing how it will benefit society and essentially men. For instance, Mill states, 'The second benefit to be expected from giving to women the free use of their faculties...would be that of doubling the mass of mental faculties available for the higher service of humanity...'[2]
I believe the debate about who can speak for women and Feminism has led to Feminism being seen as an exclusive theory. The argument about whether men can speak for women is similar to the argument that black women have felt about whether white women can speak for them in the name of Feminism. Much like Hazel Carby believes Feminism is a word appropriated by white women, to talk about all women, yet ignores the experiences of black women [3], many feminists believed that men couldn't understand the experiences of women. However, this excludes those who want to support the movement which has the opposite effect of what feminists want to achieve; equality amongst all.
[1] Derek Stanovsky, “Speaking As, Speaking For, and Speaking With: The Pitfalls and Possibilities of Men Teaching Feminism”, Feminist Teacher, 11.1 (1997), pp. 10-11
[2] John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” in The Essential Feminist Reader, ed. By E.B. Freedman (New York: The Modern Library, 2007), p. 83.
[3] Hazel Carby, 'White Woman Listen! Black feminism and the boundaries of sisterhood' in Black British Culture & Society, ed. by Kwesi Owusu (London: Routledge, 2000), pp. 82-88.