Seems to me, a lot of women felt degraded, trapped, economically dependent and wanted to use their minds for more than frying eggs and changingdiapers.
Now it's changed as the responsibilities and role of the father has changed because now a father takes care of his kids and is much more involved in housework than - and caretaking than - you know, it's hard to imagine a Groucho Marx talking about changingdiapers, for example.