Quiz: The Subjection of Women

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. How does Mill reply to the saying that under kings women govern, under queens men? He dismisses it as a French jest, unworthy of discussion in a serious argument He says it applies only to queens who were regents for their sons, not to queens regnant He accepts it as true of France, but says English queens have always ruled for themselves If queens pick better ministers, women excel at choosing agents, government’s chief task
2. Why does Mill treat the suffrage separately from women’s admission to offices and professions? Because women already had the parliamentary vote in some boroughs Choosing one’s governors is self-protection due to all, fit to govern or not Because he thought only unmarried women and widows who pay rates should vote Because voting requires less education than any profession
3. What did a man who had weighed many brains tell Mill? The heaviest brain he knew of was a woman’s Women’s brains were always lighter in proportion to the body Cuvier’s brain was lighter than average Brain weight had no relation at all to the body
4. How does Mill explain the origin of men’s authority over women? It was established by the early Church It arose from the rise of private property in land Men’s greater strength, and the value they set on women, put women in bondage It was adopted after long experience showed it was best for both sexes and for the family
5. Why, according to Mill, have princesses proved as able as princes? They were usually guided by experienced male ministers of state Their rank spared them the lesson that politics was unwomanly They received a more practical education in affairs than their brothers Hereditary monarchy selects the ablest women of each royal house
6. To answer the claim that a family needs one ruler, what does Mill compare marriage with? A ship under its captain An army A business partnership A monarchy
7. Why, according to Mill, do women who only give money tend to support harmful charity? They are naturally more tender-hearted than men and cannot bear to refuse anyone who asks Their clergy direct their giving and favour the poor who attend church over the rest Not being self-dependent, they do not value self-dependence for the poor They are not allowed to manage their own money, and so never learn what it can do
8. What example does Mill give of women’s softening moral influence in history? The Crusades, preached by abbesses and noble ladies across Europe The founding of the medieval universities by queens and noble widows Kings’ wives converting the Anglo-Saxons and Franks The abolition of the slave trade by women’s petitions to Parliament
9. What does Mill say should replace the legal subordination of one sex to the other? Gradual extension of rights to educated women only Protective laws guarding women from the abuse of men’s power Perfect equality, no privilege for either sex A system of separate but complementary legal spheres
10. How does Mill describe what is now called the nature of women? An eminently artificial thing, made by repression and stimulation Something only women can describe, and they have done so Morally superior to the nature of men A fixed product of physiology

0 of 10 answered