"Overwhelmingly, and worldwide, human communities and cultures were at that time so engineered as to give immense advantages to men" (p.25)

Throughout history, in cultures across the globe, women have always been looked upon as seconds in society. Ever since the beginning of time it seems as if the role of a woman has been limited to baring children, cooking, cleaning, and performing all other domestic tasks. There has never been a time or place when women shared complete equivalence with men. Males have invariably been considered more intelligent, mightier, and more competent than women.

During the Middle Ages woman were treated very bitterly. The wife would have to give all her land to her husband after getting married. The woman lost her legal standing and did not have a say in her life anymore. Medieval women were appointed to household jobs while the men held high positions in society such as judges, doctors, and military leaders. Young girls were not allowed to go to school and learned how to sew and cook at home. Married off by the age of thirteen to men sometimes as much as twenty years older to them, females never had a say in their lives.

In eighteenth century America, women had a fixed purpose in society. They were to perform conventional tasks such as preparing and serving food, making clothing, and rearing the children. The men enjoyed their lives ungratefully while their wives, mothers, and sisters did laborious and exhausting jobs at home. Women had no say in household earnings, property, or inheritance. Husbands could legally beat their wives. Soon women had to add the task of farming to their list of unjust chores. Later female slaves were brought to the colonies. They were forced to do a man's work in the fields and bare children so that the slave owner would have more property.

The issue of education also played a role in inequality