Mill begins by addressing the assumption that women are the inferior sex, being less intelligent and less skilled by nature. He says that this assumption has no supporting evidence because men have never allowed women to have a fair shot and try things to see how good they really are. Therefore, he concludes that sexism is a conclusion drawn by spurious logic.
He continues by arguing that women will be able to do by their nature whatever nature intended for them to be able to do. Therefore it would be illogical to assume that women need to be protected from trying things, since failure is a built in response to the lack of capacity. In other words, nature will limit women to whatever extent it does limit women, and men don't need to be involved in that process at all.
He then offers a threefold utilitarian response to the problem of sexism. He says that by allowing women to participate in trade, there can be the free trade of the commodities that women would like to introduce. He also argues that by educating women, we expedite the progress of man by introducing more chance for breakthrough and learning. He also includes here a defense of the home life of women, saying that although men would like to assume that they would dislike their wives if they were equals, they would actually probably like them a lot more, because by allowing their wives to be real people, their friendships can begin with women as intellectual equals.
Finally, he attacks marriage law for placing restrictions on wives to submit them to a type of slavery. He mentions the problem of the vote and notices that since women constitute half the population, that the removal of their political opinions was both tyrannical and against the ideas of democracy. He ends the book with an exploration of a few of his favorite powerful women, Elizabeth I, Victoria, and even Joan of Arc.
