Women and Economics a Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women As a Factor in Social Evolution - Couverture souple

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 – 1935) was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. In 1884, she married the artist Charles Walter Stetson. Their only child, Katharine Beecher Stetson, was born the following year. In 1888, Charlotte separated from her husband – a rare occurrence in the late nineteenth century. The two legally divorced in 1894. Following the separation, Charlotte moved with her daughter to Pasadena, California, where she became active in several feminist and reformist organizations.

Women and Economics – A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution is a book written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and published in 1898. It is considered by many to be her single greatest work, and as with much of her writing, the book touches a few dominant themes: the transformation of marriage, the family, and the home, with her central argument: "the economic independence and specialization of women as essential to the improvement of marriage, motherhood, domestic industry, and racial improvement."