Many social customs of the time worked to limit women's opportunities, such as corsets, high heels and long skirts.
Women were expected to be seen and not heard especially in the 1900s.
This is not to say that there weren't famous and prominent woman during the time like Queen Victoria, but their prominence would have depended on the status of the husband or father.
Although women were seen and not heard, they still had very important roles in society.
Women could be writers, composers and other artistic or creative pursuits as long as they were accompanied by a male chaperone.
While a woman could marry they could not own assets or enter into financial transactions in their name.
A single woman that didn't marry also couldn't own assets or enter into financial transactions, which meant that women couldn't own and run a business.
A husband could take their wife's earnings.
There were many changes that began in the 1890s and through the 1920s that changed women's roles.
Many women's rights activists pushed for change in a male dominated society.
It wasn't until 1920 that the 19th Amendment was ratified which gave women the right to vote in the US.
The US was one of the last industrialized nations to give women the right to vote.