Throughout history, women of all classes have often been subordinate to men, adopting positions of companionship and support rather than taking on roles of leadership. In 19th-century England, a patriarchal society, it was assumed that "women were naive, fragile, emotionally weak creatures who could not exist independently of a husband or the wise counsel of a father." It was until the Industrial Revolution that lower-class women were able to find employment in factories and become more independent of their homes and husbands. Even then, their work was arduous and they were often underpaid compared to their male counterparts. Women's Union leader Emma Paterson once said: "Not only are women often paid half, or even less than half, for doing a job as well and as quickly as men, but skilled women whose work requires delicacy of touch, the result of long labor training as well as thoughtfulness receive from 11 shillings to 16 or 17 shillings per week, while the most arduous unskilled work of a man is worth at least 18 shillings. The employers of the Industrial Revolution mistreated and mistreated lower-class women to such an extent that middle-class women began to become aware of their suffering. Girls were sent to factories at an early age and many lacked a proper education. These events led middle-class women to fight for laws protecting female employees and women's right to vote. Middle-class women led strikes and revolts against employers as they fought to achieve equity between men and women. These feminists were the first women to fight for women's rights and to be responsible for the equality that men and women experience today. Before the industrial revolution, women were always tied to the family. "Women's independent identity... middle of paper...... Victorian England: male opposition to sacramental confession in the Anglican Church." » EBSCOhost, http://www.hchs.hunter.cuny.edu:2053/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=19&sid=a776509f-f9fd-46ed-b993-a80a54c97895%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a 9am&AN = 17406788 (accessed April 11, 2011). (Primary source/academic source) Simonton, Deborah. The work of European women. United States and Canada: Routledge, 1998. (Book) Swisher, Clarice. Victorian England. United States: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000. (Book) The National Archives. "Were men and women equal in Victorian Britain?". » Nation divided. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/victorianbritain/divided/default.htm (accessed April 12, 2011). University of Rochester. “History of the right to vote”. Center for Women's Leadership. http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/suffragehistory.html (accessed April 11, 2001). (Secondary source)