> I thought it was clear there were also untold numbers of ordinary women who were also completely in charge of their own households from ancient times till mod

> I thought it was clear there were also untold numbers of ordinary women who were also completely in charge of their own households from ancient times till modern age. I don't think that's clear. As for recent history, here's some US labor force participation data from 1948 to the present. Notice the stark contrast at the beginning. https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/03/women-in-the-labor-force/ https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/03/women-in-the-labor-f...