Women had little control of their future

"The woman's own choice makes such a man her husband; yet being so chosen, he is her lord, and she is to subject to him, yet in a way of liberty, not of bondage; and a true wife accounts her subjection her honor and freedom, and would not think her condition safe and free, but in her subjection to her husband's authority."
                                                                                      - John Winthrop - The Little Speech 

I think Winthrop wrote this statement based on his one sided view as a man. A woman in that era had very little choice in who they married it was based who would afford them the best life. A woman who was beautiful had from a well respected family of course may have had a better selection of men but again her selection in a husband was a family affair not solely her own desires. A Woman could not just marry any man she choose because although she could in theory do marry a man of her choosing, and she made an unrespectable choice she would become socially alienated from the society she was accustomed to. 

It appears Winthrop thinks women should feel honored to follow the beliefs of her husband without concern for her own thoughts. She should feel it is her responsibility to take on whatever her husband throws at her regardless of how wonderful or harsh it may be. Winthrop’s sentiment on the standing of women in society has only recently stopped being viewed as the social norm but his beliefs still resonates in American culture. I found Winthrop statement was interesting but flawed because women are not property and men have no more mentally capable then women