There is scant evidence of early organized protest against such circumscribed status. In some parts of the world, such restrictions on women continue today. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were barred from most professions. Married women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission of their husbands. Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent, or even son. Even as late as the early 20th century, women could neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and in most of the United States (where several territories and states granted women’s suffrage long before the federal government did so). At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to participate in public life. Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved for men. Why is International Women's Day on March 8? See all videos for this article SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.

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