When you think about it, women have been 'strong' for centuries. Before the age of a social safety net in the form of benefits and social services, when the husband died, the women were often left destitute with multiple children. They toiled night and day to keep a roof over their children's heads.

Often, if a mother died, the children were farmed out to relatives as it was decided that the father couldn't possibly look after them. Yes, before the death, the father was working full time, but after the death of fathers, most women had to go out and work full time while also caring for her family.

And it's interesting that although we have armies of single mothers today, they are somehow looked down upon, while no mention is made of the absent father.