The status of women by Bertrand Russell

I am an admirer of Bertrand Russell and his philosophy. Though I find a little too hard to undestand some of his literature, the ones I do get to understand, make lot of sense to me. I was reading this short article on the status of women written by him. Some of the quotes that capture the essense of his philosophy on this issue are written here.

"In the modern world there is a wide spread recognition of the gain of character involved in acting upon one's own initiative rather than upon outside compulsion; and it is felt by most unbiassed persons that all forcible dominion is bad in itself, as well as degrading in its effects upon master and slave."

"What I wish to urge is that liberty becomes increasingly important as the relation concerned is more intimate; that therefore it is more important, in the family than inthe state, and most important of all in the relations of men and women. The more two people have to do with each other, the more desirable it becomes that they should not prey upon each others spontaneity, not impair each other's self-respect and self-reliance. "

" It is not always sufficiently realized that love without respect is degrading, both to the one who loves and to the one who is loved. To the one who loves, it affords a constant temptation to think that the qualities whose absence makes respect impossible are not really important; to the one loved, it brings the complacent feeling that, since love has been obtained, further improvement is unnecessary."

"People are far too apt to content with seeking happiness for those they love, reserving virtue for themselves. "

"To any one who has once realized what human companionship is capable of being, almost all existing marriages seem to involve something which is close to chastity."

"By not being consulted, women soon become unworthy to be consulted; the love of power which is ingrained in almost every humanbeing, cannot find a legitamate outlet, and therefore turns, except in a few women of more than usual sincerity, to the arts of managing and "tact" of inventing false reasons and choosing times when the lord and master is " in a holiday humour, and like enough to consent". All this, which is evil, and is traditionally urged against women, is as directly the result of oppression as are bombs in Russia."

"The power of admitting facts, without which people can neither act rightly themselves, not help others to act rightly, is very seldom acquired by those who have never faced the world on their own account."

"The woman I imagine is to retain the sympathy and kindness which belong with the maternal instict, while everything is to be done by education and way of life to cure the indirectness which comes of the instinct for being loved rather than for loving. And when the world contains women of this type the companionship of men and women will become something which at present exists only in very rare cases, where on both sides good ends are desired, and reason takes the place of the desire to have one's own way. At present, men and women seldom have any real companionship, or any real understanding of each other's best; brought together by temporary attraction, they remain strangers, and as a rule hamper each other's development. In all this there is no necessity; it is due mainly to the fact that subordination rather than liberty is expected, and that women's follies and men's vices are pleasing to the sense of superiority of husbands or wives as the case may be. To teach men and women to love equality and liberty is the real beginning of all reform in personal relations; and until this is done people will continue to degrade and depress those with whom their lives are past."





The entire article is available here

http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1788&context=russelljournal