Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“What women by nature cannot do, it is quite superfluous to forbid them from doing.”
- Source
- The Subjection of Women
- Date
- 1869
Meaning of “What women by nature cannot do, it is…”
The argument exposes a contradiction in claims about natural incapacity: if an activity were truly impossible by nature, legal prohibition would be unnecessary.
Where does it come from?
The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter I, printed page 48, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that if an activity were truly contrary to women’s nature, legal or social prohibition would be superfluous; the sentence belongs to his case for free development and open competition.
