"Roles were dictated by the requirements of pregnancy in women, and every division of labor results from that."

You only mentioned half the issue. Men are stronger than women, and strength was usually seen as superiority. Many men outlived three or four wives -- if they didn't die in childbirth, they were worked to death.

In that time period and for centuries before it, women had few options: wife, mistress, maid or [censored]. Why do you think women literally put their lives on the line via being mail-order brides? Why do you think the early-days LDS women put up with multiple wives? Between lack of great physical strength and sociological conditioning, it was a matter of survival, period.

Why do you think women suffering from PMS or menopause were put in insane asylums? I'll bet it was because they had become less useful and it was the easiest way to 'trade them in' on a newer model. Women were chattel, property.

Sue