[Here's some completely unnecessary alternative-history for a fictional patriachal reality. Warning: it's dry]

In this alternate reality the Roman Empire had prospered for longer and wider than in our world. With broadened security, the Empire had pushed it's influence East along the Silk Road eventually controlling the Chinese Imperial Highway and the Royal Road in northern India. Controlling trade routes not only meant more power for the Roman world, but also greater influence over cultures and people, as well as an extraordinary breadth of ideals and thoughts to draw from.

Such rapid cross-cultural exposure led to an enlightenment, which the Roman sense of citizenship quickly moulded into educational reform, with interconnected networks of schools, forums, and universities dotted along the entire reach of the Empire and it's influence, offering the high quality Roman education to the far reaches of the Empires trade partners and vassals.

Around this time came the Feminist movement. Though it's true source is unknown, it quickly spread throughout the Roman Empire's now-established educational system throughout the known world. Despite gender distinctions in the developing Latin culture being reasonably tame, a rebelliousness and entitlement amongst young women was romantisised and spurred forward with heated ferver.

The intelligensia attempted to oppose the movement, pointing to their well established understanding of gender roles, psychology, and social structure, but their warnings were drowned out by mobs of the masses. The movement culminated in an official reform issued by the Roman Senate to be instituted across all their territories and unified nations: Women were to be assigned exactly one half of all formal positions immediately.

And that is when the Empire fell.

Historical records enter a dark age at this point, but it would seem that the Senate's forced reform was effectively carried out and soon after the intricate civil structure of the Empire and it's connected nation-states began to crumble. Archealogical evidence shows a rapid decline in infrastructure, followed by civil unrest. Communications broke down, authority structures faultered, trade routes deteriorated, and entire socities began to collapse as they depended on the effectivness of the Roman Empires order and organisation. It was the end of a utopian era.

The fall of the Empire had meant a technological and societal collapse across the entire European and Asian continents, as well as portions of north Africa and the Middle East. Cultural groups re-segregated in the chaos and the sudden collapse of the golden age of humanity led to famine, violence, and devastating loss of technology and knowledge. With the fall of the existing structures, nations fractured and the great developments of the Roman Empire and it's ally's was looted and lost.

As a result of these events, this alternate world came to continue in a way much the same as our worlds history, with separate nations holding their own ideals and seperate beliefs, languages, technologies, and social structures. However, one thing remained true throughout almost all of these cultures, a lesson learned from history that was realised under the tragic collapse of the utopian human society: Woman have a natural place where they must remain, or else.

The horrors and tragedy of the downfall of a utopian world had embedded this truth into language, mythology, science, religion, philosophy, and every manner of academia in almost every cultural on earth.

Focussing on the western world in this alternate reality, the feudal era saw women properly educated in feminine etiquette and purpose by their Lords before being distributed to male vassals. The Magna Carta made mention of a man's right to own a woman, and a woman's right to be owned by a man. The Albertian years of exploration made heroes out of the women taken on the mighty voyages to tend to the needs of the crew. And establishment of parliamentary governance included a smaller, separate women's assemblys in which experienced and educated women were able to present ideas and laws to ensure that women throughout the land could continue to effectively fulfil their purpose and duties subservient to men.

It was during this time that the fertile lands of a very large Atlantic volcanic island were discovered by an explorer, William Ess. Enamoured by it's expansive beauty and rich soil, ESS and his crew never reported his finding to superiors and instead returned home to quietly collect their families and settlement supplies, soonafter establishing an independent colony of Essland. Soon after it's establishment, a fundamentalist community of trouble makers known as 'equalisits', due to their unnatural belief in gender equality, migrated from England to Essland and took control of the young states laws and culture.

Looking to the 'present' of this alternate reality, It should be noted that, at least in the West where we are looking, women are not seen as any less human or of any less value. They were, and are, simply seen as having a natural and ideal place and purpose, that place and purpose being subservient to men.

That brings us to today. This world is identical to ours in many ways.... but quite different in others.