The Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State

In the 19th century, women were excluded from so many rights and privileges that feminist campaigning was by and large focused on specific institutional changes. Women couldn't obtain custody of their children, couldn't easily leave an unhappy or a violent marriage,. Their husbands had the right to all their earnings if women were working. There was an enormous structural sense that women were second-class citizens or not even regarded as citizens at all.