Expatriarch - "Patriarchy isn't real": Why men provide for their wives

[ihaveaquestion]

The idea that patriarchy isn't real or that husbands provided for wives out of generosity is easily dispatched in just one word: Coverture.

Women's legal rights were suspended in marriage and she ceased to be her own legal entity, instead being 'covered' by her husband. Women were not allowed to own property, keep their own income, enter into legal contracts, sue or be sued or make purchases without their husband's approval. They were entirely at the mercy of their husbands, who were not legally obligated to provide for their wife's support.

The laws of Coverture continued from the middle ages right through to the 19th century and were still present in some states laws in the 20th century. Impacting case law even within my own lifetime.

Patriarchy is far from ancient history, we're still dealing with untangling the legal and social impact of coverture

[littlemissmartypants]

1. How did I come to believe that women have traditionally been regarded as...

Property? I have always thought that was part of the equation. Have I been mistaken?

❤️

[Warpy]

2. Patrirchy deniers live in some christian NeverNever Land

Women were the slaves of men in every way and could even be sold by the husband if he saw a newer model out there.

Ruth Goodman points out in her books that there were a few alternatives to marriage or ways to delay it until one's dictatorial father had dropped dead, at least in the British Isles. Women could apprentice as dairy maids, silk workers, various types of domestic servants, and that there were career ladders for all of them. There was also the church and its convents, but the only way to survive those for any length of time was to be a rich man's daughter who'd brought in an endowment.

Fathers whose daughters were bringing in decent wages by the time they hit puberty were a little less likely to marry them off at menarch, preferring to cash in rather than eliminate a female mouth to feed.

(I do recommend Ruth Goodman's books. They're easy reads and quite a bit of them have personal experience behind them. If you want to know how people lived, her books are a must. Otherwise, it's what king did what and when..zzzzz)