Expatriarch - "Patriarchy isn't real": Why men provide for their wives

[Warpy]

2. Patrirchy deniers live in some christian NeverNever Land

Women were the slaves of men in every way and could even be sold by the husband if he saw a newer model out there.

Ruth Goodman points out in her books that there were a few alternatives to marriage or ways to delay it until one's dictatorial father had dropped dead, at least in the British Isles. Women could apprentice as dairy maids, silk workers, various types of domestic servants, and that there were career ladders for all of them. There was also the church and its convents, but the only way to survive those for any length of time was to be a rich man's daughter who'd brought in an endowment.

Fathers whose daughters were bringing in decent wages by the time they hit puberty were a little less likely to marry them off at menarch, preferring to cash in rather than eliminate a female mouth to feed.

(I do recommend Ruth Goodman's books. They're easy reads and quite a bit of them have personal experience behind them. If you want to know how people lived, her books are a must. Otherwise, it's what king did what and when..zzzzz)