"at the time of the American Revolution, women were held under couverture (literally, femme couverte, woman covered) under English common law, or, an intensified version of it interpreted by William Blackstone. Since women have never been defined as citizens under the founding liberal doctrines, many argue that the liberal, (and democratic) tradition cannot include women, being crafted exclusively for men. We see this when women run for office and the public continually focuses on their appearance and family life. This double-standard is said to originate in liberalism itself. Wendy Brown. Women were continually labelled as "mothers" throughout the history of the republic, not as citizens. The supreme court consistently argued that women were not free in the same Lockean sense that men were to "sell their labor" however they chose, even though many women would be abandoned, widowed or never marry and be forced into work at low wages, with little representation. The only option that women had was to marry in order to protect herself from exploitation in the market. Often, those options were not very appealing to many women, who were forced to marry much older men, or men who treated them cruelly. By the way, this was where the Mormon idea of polygamy comes from. They argued that their marriages allowed for more humane treatment of women who would otherwise be forced into bad marriages or on their own."