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How the Relation Arose — and What Comes After
Gilman argues the sexuo-economic relation was not arbitrary — it evolved because it held individualistic men to sustained productive effort, acting, in her image, like a "coiled spring." She closes by imagining what becomes possible once women are free economic factors: a wider social union, and a truer partnership between man and woman.
Historical causes and social uses of the relationWoman's confined position as an unlikely engine of civilizationThe "coiled spring" image of restrained female forceWhy family alone cannot support higher collective industryAnticipating a freer union between the sexes