In the mid-19th century, the women's issue was already at the center of discussions both internationally and in the Greek space. In the United States, the movement for improving women's position began much earlier than in Greece, dictated by the "divine calling" that women believed they had received. The emergence of the first women's efforts in education, the workplace, and social life sparked many discussions, criticisms, and comments. The first women's magazines, despite their different starting points and various goals in shaping the female model, converged in highlighting a modern model.
However, the female presence continued to be trapped in the many "shoulds" imposed by society. From "prearranged" marriages to the coveted pursuit of individual happiness, societies in both the West and the East went through many phases of "misogyny" and later "feminism". This book is the product of the author's long-term postdoctoral research in the field of gender history in the international and Greek space during the 19th and early 20th centuries.