The woman question

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This phrase is usually used in connection with a social change in the later half of the nineteenth century which questioned the fundamental roles of women in Britain and America. Issues of suffrage, reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, property rights, legal rights and medical rights, and of course marriage, dominated cultural discussions in newspapers and intellectual circles. While many women were supportive of these changing roles, they by no means agreed unanimously. Often issues of marriage and sexual freedom were most divisive.

Important literature pertaining to the "woman question" includes:

• Sarah Grand "The Beth Book"
• Olive Schreiner "Story of an African Farm"
• Thomas Hardy Jude the Obscure
• Otto Weininger "Sex and Character"

[edit] See also

• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman