t obtain a high-income job since this usually required academic success. It was also nearly the only way, in which a woman could have a child, since it was almost completely unacceptable for a woman to conceive outside of wedlock. The marital and property laws supported the idea that women were the inferior sex. When a woman married she lost all legal status. All wealth passed to their husbands; if they worked the money belonged to the husband. Even the common and contract law was the same. Women couldnt posses land, clothing, run a business, sign documents, even the children were the property of the husband. The Matrimonial Clauses Act of 1857 allowed only the men the right to divorce, after the divorce it was up to the man how often the wife could see the children if at all. In 1865 the Kensington Society was formed. This was the first recognised movement for equality. The society consisted of just 11 women; they attempted to change the Reform Act with he help of Henry Fawcett and John Stuart Mill MP. This attempt to amend the Reform Act to allow women the right to vote failed. The Kensington Society didnt however, because the feminist movement was soon taken up by many more people and for the first time in British history changes started to occur. The 1870 Married Womens Property Act allowed women to keep their own earnings, personal property and money under 200 bequeathed to them. Elizabeth Wolstenholm Elmy who was on the Married Womens Property committee helped this along. In America women were given legal status when married in 1848 under the Womens Property Act. This Act meant that married women were able to acquire and retain assets independently of their husbands. This however, was only in New York, but soon after other states passed similar laws.Education was a large issue for the feminist movement. Education meant a higher standing in society, better access to jobs and an ability to gain entry into the world...
