The same socio-economic forces that propelled the debates over men's rights at such high speed during the 17th and 18th centuries also ushered in, haltingly and grudgingly, the debates over women's rights – the ‘woman question’, as it was then known.

The rising economic affluence, the growth of secular debates, the spread of education among the middle classes, increased urbanisation and the widening of geographical horizons provided the social environment for a few bold female spirits to speak out against their oppression. Of particular significance was the growth of the professional middle classes – lawyers, doctors, clerics – some of whose wives and daughters found it difficult to accept the dominant ideology of female inferiority.

It was then universally believed that women were not only different from men but inferior, too, physically and mentally; their place was not in the public domain but in the private sphere as wives, mothers and daughters destined to serve and obey their menfolk; education was not necessary and, in fact, it could be counter to their welfare, for their main aim in life was to find a husband and raise a family. It was a deeply ingrained view that was backed by religion, custom, law and, often, economic necessity; and was accepted not only by men as a group who benefited from it but also by most women who suffered as a result.

A number of themes run through the early feminist writings: women were not inferior to men by nature; any inferiorities were due to socio-economic reasons; a great deal of attention was focused on the absence of adequate educational facilities for women; the absence of occupational opportunities for educated women was always criticised; the oppressive nature of marriage was a central concern; it was not so much the institution of marriage per se that was being criticised but rather the male cruelty within the married home; and, finally, the overall concern was primarily with the condition of middle-class, professional women. The condition of working-class women was either ignored or was seen as part and parcel of the condition of middle-class women. Concern for the condition of working-class women came later, at the close of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century (Offen, 2000).