Women's Subordination

The idea that women had absolutely no power and that they were always abused is simply not true. Part of what we now think of as women's subordination was also their privileged position to be exempt from prosecution or to be treated much more leniently in the criminal courts. There's a very interesting book on this subject actually written by a 19th century British barrister named Ernest Belfort Backs. He sheds a totally different light on the issue based on actual cases that he was either involved in or observed.