Although it has been proven that the majority of Roman women were housewives, there were also some women who did not only need to be matrons. A handful of women were also involved in professional activities such as business, sales and skilled trades where they were midwives, nurses or even doctors. This handful of women were usually from upper-class families and had permission to excel at something in life. (Shelton 1998, 303) As my thesis suggests, women have not been given importance in society because of their role. Roman society saw men as the breadwinners, but women were never recognized for what they did. In fact, they were not allowed to become anything other than a housewife, which ultimately does not make them important. The majority of women who were housewives would only be recognized if they performed their household chores correctly, but this importance was not equal to that of a man.