Women's lives today would be virtually unrecognisable to previous generations. Women have greater freedom to control their lives and their sexuality than ever before. Ideas about equality are accepted on a mass scale.
Yet daily we are bombarded with images of women as sex objects, housewives and mothers. As we approach the 21st century women face a backlash against the gains they have made. The political right, backed by a new generation of post feminists, stress women's role in the home.
Lindsey German examines the various theories which try to explain women's lives, including the theory of patriarchy which has shaped much feminist thinking. She looks at the patterns of women at work, how the family affects women's lives and how women have organised to fight for their liberation.