In "Women's Consciousness, Men's World", Rowbotham presented her analysis of contemporary social conditions in Britain from a Marxist-feminist perspective. She argues that origins of sexism predate capitalism, and that the institution of marriage closely resembles feudalism. She contends that as in feudalism serfs were obliged to serve their masters, wives are likewise contracted to serve their husbands. The historian Susan Cook praised Rowbotham for tracing a "female consciousness"  in Britain from the 17th century onward through "complex webs" of economic and political change. The clarity of Rowbotham's writing together with her picture of what Cook called the "potential contradictory nature of women's desires and needs" ensured that "Women's Consciousness, Men's World" reached a broad audience.