Around 195 B.C., the great Roman statesman Cato the Elder addressed his colleagues concerning a petition sent up by the women of Rome, who wanted the right to ride in carriages.

His opinion was recorded by Livy: “If they win in this, what will they not attempt? Review all the laws with which your forefathers restrained their license and made them subject to their husbands; even with all these bonds you can scarcely control them. What of this? If you suffer them to seize these bonds one by one and wrench themselves free and finally to be placed on a parity with their husbands, do you think that you will be able to endure them? The moment they begin to be your equals, they will be your superiors.”

This same fear echoes down the course of the centuries; the fear felt by men who think that w

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