Scrutinizing the political background of the movement, its sources and its common ground with other radical movements of the sixties, Women's Estate describes the organization of women's liberation in Western Europe and America, locating the areas of women's oppression in four key areas: work, reproduction, sexuality and the socialization of children. Through a detailed study of the modern family and a reevaluation of Freud's work in this field, Mitchell paints a detailed picture of how patriarchy works as a social order.