Men have owned women and their belongings in history. Does anyone know of any good books that talks about?

Question

In some countries if the men died before the wife the women were creamated alive with their husbands alive. In Victorian times, men owned the women's dresses and other clothes and would sell, or rent them out as they pleased. I read this info in a book and can not remember what book it was.. does anyone know of any other books with this kind of information?

Answer 1

Read Frederick Engels book, "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State" to gain a good understanding of why the things you describe have and continue to occur.

Answer 2

India is where the Hindu custom of suttee (burning of the wife) has occurred and occasionally still does in very isolated regions.  The British tried to stamp it out, but it only took in cities and more affluent areas.

Answer 3

The custom of the wife burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre was a Hindu custom practised in India, it applied only to the Rajput (ruling) class.

I have never heard of Victorian men selling their wives' clothes, but i suppose they might if they were really hard up.  Married women's property was assumed to belong to their husbands, and husband were liable to be held responsible for their wives debts.  However, the Married Women's property Act of 1870 acknowledge the principle that married women might have property of their own.  A further act in 1882 further safeguarded married women's property rights.

Answer 4

Well, how times have changed. Check with any divorced male or just with divorce lawyers in general and see who gets the worst end of the stick 9 outta ten. I ha vent experienced it but been to plenty of calls where the court most definitely sided with the female gender is unbelievable ways.

Guess women are making up for lost time from about 120 years ago.