Two characters open and close this work: the first is John Stuart Mill, economist, philosopher and, fundamentally, a humanist of the mid-19th century who courageously published a work against the enslavement of women; the other character is Rita Levi-Montalcini, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1986, shared with Stanley Cohen, was an Italian neurologist and politician who dedicated a large part of her life to the vindication of women, for which she organised her own foundation. In the midst of these important references, other people are presented, women of note and others anonymous, who tenaciously demonstrated the desire to stop being considered a species protected by men. This brief overview of the centuries-long struggle of women and some men will provide readers with elements for more in-depth studies that will keep the gender issue alive beyond circumstantial ideologies.