This is what I think. and I'm just havering

[Longlost10]

Woman carry babies, as in throughout pregnancy. They are weaker than men.

That's it really, that is the whole issue.

men don't actually have their baby come out of their body, it comes out of someone else's body, so how do they know it is theirs?

Well, until DNA testing, as in for 99.999% of the lifetime of the human race, only by controlling woman and female sexuality, so that there is no opportunity for their woman to mate with someone else.

And in later centuries, when your legitimate male heirs inherited your life time's achievement, legitimacy, and faithfulness in marriage, had to be imposed, and the whole dominance, obedience and control thing became socially and institutionally embedded, and it still is.

That's what I think anyway.

That seems pretty I controversial. It is implicit in what you've written, but it's interesting I think to wonder why men care about their own children. Chimpanzee males compete with each other to father as many offspring as possible, but don't have any particular involvement once they're born (possibly because they can't tell which are theirs). source

My guess would be that ensuring paternity became a big deal when humans settled down and started amassing property. But that's speculative of course!

Dammit, uncontroversial.

When you say weaker than men do you mean physically or power ?

Because I think the response to this would be different or are you talking about both .

I mean physically weaker, and that has lead, in some societies to them having less power. In most societies, in fact.

I agree.
Concealed ovulation in humans means males don't know when the female is fertile and so guarding her throughout her cycle is the best way to ensure offspring are his.

discovermagazine.com/1993/sep/sexandthefemalea262