H. McQueen’s scientific contributions

... 1 There are also cases of minor and temporary deviations to this almost universal tendency. For example, during the early period of the introduction of the factory system in England, it was often easier for women (and children) to obtain employment than men (Thompson, 1968;Smelser, 1972;Rowbotham, 1974). For a time this development usurped the power of many working-class husbands and led Engels to observe that: 'This condition, which unsexes the man and takes from woman all womanliness without being able to bestow upon the man true womanliness, or the woman true manliness-this condition which degrades, in the most shameful way, both sexes, and, through them, Humanity, is the last result of our much-praised civilisation, the final achievement of all the efforts and struggles of hundreds of generations to improve their own situation and that of their posterity. ...

Reference:

Middle-Class Couples: A Study of Segregation, Domination and Inequality in Marriage