The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-01-18
"THE sUBJECTIoN OF WOMEN"
Arc Wnmcn Physically on nm Equal
Footing with Men!

Mills "Subjection of Women" We extract the
following points indicating physiological OBJ
jections to the doctrine Of the equality of wo-
men with men:
But let US turn for one moment to the other
view of the question. 1t ls that woman Is o
woman, and not lesser edition OF man. The
| competition in which we are forever laboring
! to involve them has no existence in nature.
They are not rivals, nor antagonists. They are
| two halves of a complete being. The offices
| they hold in the world are essentially differ
| cnt There Is scarcely any natural standing
ground which we can realize on which these
| two creatures appear as rivals. The very
thought is preposterous. Shall the woman
challenge the man to trial OF strength! saall a
| the man put himself against the woman for
dclcacy OF eye and taste Shall she plough
the heavy fields with him, wading through the
new-turned mould, or shall he watch the chill
dren with her, patient through the weary
vigil An exchange Of place and toll, the
man taking the indoor work and the woman
the outdoor, in order to prove the tutility'of
their mutual discomfort, was favorite subject
of the old ballad-makers; and the witty min
llsel is generally very great on the domestic
confusion that follows and gives the wife
the best of it. But the fact is that such a
rivalry can be nothing but jest. The two
are not rivals, they arc not alike. They are
different creatures. They are one.
TO Illustrate this theory we have but to look
at the life which they lead together. Civlliza.
tion has. wondcriul- faculty for altering and
confounding the natural conditions oil exist
tence. But in primitive circumstances 1t is
ALWAYS the man who Is the bestowCr Of mate
rial advantages; 1t Is his 10 give, 10 provide for,
to labor, TO protect. He is the bread-winner-
the strength Is his. 1t Is he alone, who, with
out intermisslon, can face the outside world,
and force subsistence out OF the reluctant
soil or the barren seas. When the typical pair
set out together who are to found all human
economies, all domestic relations, and from
whom the new life Is to proceed-and every
new pair is but repetition Of the first-naturc
places them at once with q certainty beyond
theory In their traditional places. The woman
has an Office to perform which renders unre-
mitting labor impossible to her. She is the
fountain OF life, bound by oil the laws Of her
nature to guard the sacred seed and bring 1t
forth to crush the serpent's head, and fill the
world with increase and gladncss. The man
may shlrk his work. bnt hers she cannot shirE.
And in the pride and Joy of her special office
there mlngles sacred shame which compels
her to Intervals of seclusiUn and avoidance of
the worlds gaze. Her life is interrupted,
broken up into morsels; now she can go forth,
can work If IL be needtul, can use In any way
that may be necessary the faculties that God
has given her; and anon there comes time In
which all such labors must be suspended In
consideration of something else which God
has given her to do. But the man has no in
tcrrHptions to his life; his strength Is steady
without breach or variation. What partner
ship is there that can have any analogy with
this I? Let us suppose that they labored to-
gether in their Eden little while, scarcely
Knowing which was which in the first sweet
unity of being. And then the time came when
he went out alone to labor, and she in her
sanctity or weakness stayed at home. When he
returned how could it be otherwise than that
one for, whom he had been toiling all day
should meet him with offices Of service, with
domestic ministratlons, with grateful lessening
of herself and magnifying of him? From that
moment must not equality have fled to the
winds like all other foolish pretenccs! The
man was out oil day tolllng, struggling, meet
inr the winds and the storm, the sun beating
on his head, the powers OF nature resisting
him; what could he be but king when he re-
turned to that first hut or hoVel and stretched
out his weary limbs by the new-llghted fire !?
Service was his due. The food he had earned,
must 1t not be offered to him, with obserrances
copied afar off from those with which the gifts
or His giving were offered back again to God
The Imagination refuses to believe in, refuses
to frame, any other conception. His Inferior
that might or might not be-but Ills servant,
ycs-hls minister, the natural Second, the born
soace and consolation. When we cast our
eyes back TO the primeval husband a9d wife
when we turn to any subsequent pair who
have ever set out upon the world like Adam
and Eve, we find the same course OF events re-
curing in infallble sequence. This is fact and
nature, let theory say what 1t will. The wo-
man In such O union is In no way called upon
TO bc the mans inferior. She may be lntellec-
tually his superior even, and 1t Will not change
the course of nature. She will serve him
.,1It f,otn fO f,rl,p hpr
She will spread his table, and watch his
wishes, and give him of his own, with rites Of
gratitude, with flowers and incense, and
whole liturgy of ministraton. Eve would
have done it had Mr.. Mill been there ever SO
distinctly, shaking his head at her, and bid
ding her remember the rules OF equality.
Equality what does it mean? Has 1t any eX-
istence as between any two people in Intimate
relations on the face of the earth? And were
it established over and over, were 1t measur-
abe by line and weight like any tangible ma
terial, what place Ia there for It's consideration
between the two thus linked and bound to-
gethcr, the one the supplement OF the other?
Man goes ont 10 his wO:k and labor till the
evening. Woman prepares for him, waits Tor
him, serves him at home. So natural Is this,
that when, as the case may be, 1t Is woman
who is the brcad-winncr for household of
women, the worker IS turned into an inl-
proRlptll superior on the spot, and served and
waileil on as the man in other circumstances
is waited on and served. II Is the hire Of the
laborer, the reward Of the proyidcr; IN In
siinctive law which antodntes all Legislation.
and lies at the very root and beginning OF al!
human affairs.
MAN THE SUPERIOR.
Thus, though NC have declared without hcs-
Itation our belief that the law which takes all
property and all right from married women Is
an insult and injustice, equally cruel and un-
wise, we are ready to grant as frankly that the
economical position of man is that of the sll-
perior, the first in the natural hierarchy. He
it Is whose office is to maintain, support aud
protect. He may not always be equal to the
duties OF this office. He may by nature be no
more powerful, no more stcadfast, no more
in fact, than the wife who Is re-
cognized as dependent on him. But in bis
official position he stands first, and has In his
favor all the instincts and prejudices OF nature.
1t is vain TO assert Of rule which is SO uni
versal that il originates IN the arbitrary will OF
the stronger half Of the species. We might
say, on the contrary, with much greater ap-
pearance OF Justice. that 1t Is women who have
framed this infillliblc law. Every observer,
whose eyes are open 10 the common facts
about him, will sec 1t re enacted every day by
every bride who crosses the threshold OF anew
household. Mr.. Mill will tell lis that this Is the
result OF detective education, and Of Tie long
habit Of slayery; but let him take the most
ili.h-spir!tGd young woman he can lind, train
ed in his own school, and roused 10 full de-
fence of the theoretical rights of her sex by
the enthusiasm of youth and vehement sccta-
rian education, and let her but marry a
man she loves, and the philosopher will
tind the code re-cstablished, 1t may be