The lady ... is an anomaly to which the western nations of this planet have grown accustomed but which would require a great deal of explanation before a Martian could understand her.
Emily James Smith PutnamIn contemporary society [the typical lady] is an archaism, and can't hardly understand herself unless she knows her own history.
Emily James Smith PutnamAs the gentleman decays, the lady survives as the strongest evidence of his former predominance.
Emily James Smith Putnamthe lady is almost the only picturesque survival in a social order which tends less and less to tolerate the exceptional. ... In the age-long war between men and women, she is a hostage in the enemy's camp. Her fortunes do not rise and fall with those of women but with those of men.
Emily James Smith Putnam