Woman as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities

a classic from the 60's first published in 1946 "THE SUBJECT SEX "Where did the idea of women as a second sex originate? Many will be surprised to learn that the legal foundation for sexual discrimination was adopted in England and America as late as 1765, with the publication of Blackstone's Commentaries, a misrepresentation of English Common Law that held sway over the courts for more than a century and created a psychological climate that has persisted well into our era. Under the influence of Blackstone, married women were legally declared nonpersons, chattels of their husbands, with no individual rights. Although the Commentaries were not unprecedented, the Women's Rights movememt of the mid-1800s cited Blackstone as the prime authority on the legal subjection of women. "In this book, Mary R. Beard traces the vital impact of women on history, from the female philosophers of Greece, to the chatelaines of the Middle Ages, the brilliant hostesses of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French salons, the early feminists-both male and female-and the 'liberated woman' of the twentieth century. Woman as Force in History is an extraordinary accomplishment, a fascinating barometer of the rise and fall of civilized man as reflected in the treatment of his most valuable ally, woman." "Mary R. Beard, wife of Charles Beard, was a noted scholar, sociologist, and historian. A leading feminist, she devoted a lifetime to the pursuit of economic, social, and intellectual recognition for women."