Women's Property Act Essay

What in your view was the short term significance of the Married Women 's Property Acts in bringing about change in the domestic role of women?

The Married Women 's Property acts had many short term effects that changed characteristics of the domestic role of women. Previous to the first act in 1870, women had no legal identity separate from their husband. A woman 's role was seen as being in the home as the “angel of the house”, with middle class women having an almost ornamental role with little to no independence or control over their own finances. Women were seen as property and had no presence outside of their domestic sphere.
In the short term, the MWPA made marriages more companionable, and although this did not equate to equal division of domestic labour, it was a further move away from the “angel in the house” role where wives were seen to be sweet, selfless creatures that lived purely to serve their husbands. The win also provided a profound psychological effect on women, leading them to believe that they were more than this traditional, domesticated stereotype. This confidence lead to the demand for even more reforms and equality. One significant impact in changing the domestic role of women was their ability
This, however, was undercut by the ulterior motives of many of the politicians, who didn 't believe in the changing roles and just wanted to compromise with women wanting the vote. This punch cartoon of John Stuart Mill pushing some men aside attempting to “franchise” votes for women shows many men thought was wrong (appendix 1). Alternatively, another reason for the opposition to Mills was so that men could protect their wealth from the men their daughters married, by ensuring it was still legally theirs and therefore kept in the