Who Has It Easier - Men or Women?

For example, prior to the twentieth century, it was difficult for a woman to find employment (other than sweatshop labor or domestic work), and certainly no employment that would enable her to live on her own and perhaps support a child or two.  Unmarried women without financial resources were at the mercy of their families (the unwanted maiden aunt was a pitied creature throughout history), and if there was no one to take care of them, women were forced into terrible situations in order to survive.  Many chose marriage to men they didn't even like.  And once in an unhappy marriage, there was no way out.  Divorce is a phenomenon of the modern age.  A woman in an abusive marriage was trapped. 

And of course there was always the issue of pregnancy outside of marriage.  Until the very recent modern age (post 1960's), this was a terrible stigma that forced women to seek ways of avoiding becoming the pariah known as the "unwed mother."  And then there are the struggles of women who attempted to break out of the traditional woman's role of wife and mother, who dared to enter professions restricted to men and who suffered greatly for their attempts. 

Throughout history, while men have ruled and have had, let's face it, a fairly easy time of it relative to how women fared, the gentler sex has had to be very resourceful, courageous, resilient and spiritual in order to survive, or to guarantee the survival of her babies.  

This is why I write about women in history, why they are the stars of my books - it is a challenge for me as a writer to put myself in their peculiar shoes (and women have worn some mighty strange shoes through the centuries) and see how we manage to survive against all odds.

But for those of you who like male protagonists, my latest novel, Woman Of A Thousand Secrets, features a star soccer player who is as much the hero of the book as is Tonina, whose story it is.