Women

were considered clearly inferior in traditional China. In the cities and towns, women were rarely seen on the streets. Only in rural communities where their work in the fields was needed where the woman visible. Women had few legal rights; they could not divorce their husbands, while their husbands could divorce them. Women could not inherit property. Female infants would usually have their feet bound, which would deform their feet, and "keep them from running away from their husbands."