When the first coal mines opened in England some 300 years ago, women were hired alongside of men.
They worked in the mines, and dug coal for pennies a day.
When the first factories opened, some 200 years ago, women worked in them.
Of course women worked in the fish markets of Rotterdam, Naples, Bristol, Lisbon, Algiers, Venice, Jaffa, Brest, Odessa, and Dublin, as far back as recorded history. The term “fishwife” refers to these tough, no-nonsense, brawlers, who could wrestle a live tuna onto the slaughter table unaided. Loud, crude, and quick with a truncheon.
No man would cross these women. Not if he wanted to keep his teeth.