The book starts with the idea that the subordination of one gender to the other, (which is the basis of the current social relationships between men and women in a patriarchal setting), is wrong and it is the main reason behind a slowed down progress of our societies. It should be changed to a principle of equal treatment for everyone, regardless the gender. The writer, John Stuart Mill's reasons for this are uniquely explained. He discusses where the idea that women should be submissive came from. By comparing how women are treated to slavery, he shows that a society where men are in charge has severe moral problems. Mill also disagrees with the traditional view of women by saying that history doesn't show that their subjection is right, nature did not create women as "subordinate" to men. Then why do societies do this? Why do people go against the nature?
He looks at the laws about marriage and shows how men and women have different amounts of power, but none of it is unequal. He agrees that the powers are different; but are incomparable within the same scale. He tries to establish that marriage laws are more fair to men than to women. For example, people think that women are responsible for the behavioral growth of her children and when a child becomes deviant, the women is lebelled as a bad mother who could not raise her child well. Mill sees marriage as a partnership where the "equal division of power" is the key to be successful.
He then goes into more detail about what he thinks women should do when they are not married. He says that they should be able to vote, work, and run for political office.

So, basically, it was one of the modern books of 1800s where equality has been focused rather than women supremacy or men supremacy. The fact that a non modern book acknowledged women's role in the society and the need for equal rights made me happy. Problem arised when I found some problematic thoughts that may have been very relevant and just during that era. The bad thing about the book is, after all these equality talk, Mill conclude his discussion with arguments on why public jobs do not suit women! Some of these are bad ideas about how smart, cunning and emotional women are. Though I found the book progressive enough considering its time and era, I would enjoy it more if certain ideas didn't indicate gender biasness. Overall, this was a good knowledgable read and I can rate it at 7/10 at best. Plus one for being one of the most revolutionary books of modern history of feminism.