Paper Summary:

This paper considers J. S. Mill's argument for greater equality between marriage partners as a means towards individual happiness and social progress, as well as the socially constructed nature of gender. It looks at how his hypothesis, that more equal marriages will result in happier unions, is invalid in contemporary American society given its high equality and high divorce rates.

From the Paper:

"Though Mill failed to accurately anticipate how the ideological shift towards equality would batter the institution of marriage, which does not detract from his core argument that happier, more enduring marriages would result from the joining of men and women of like minds. Certainly my close, personal observation of marriage is testament to this insight. My father and mother, married for 24 years, remain an image of durable compatibility in our contemporary, secular society. Their similar intellectual levels and commonality of simple values provides enough likeness to withstand their differences. In fact, for a time they were Mill's picture of the ideal marital division of labor- my father worked while my mother managed the home with an equal voice in all matters. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mills, John Stuart. "Subjugation of Women." On Liberty and Other Writings. Ed. Stefan Collini. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

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