"Fire keepers" aka a homemaker and "gate keepers" aka child bearer were two subtle but continuous and consistent roles of women throughout history.
The cataclysmic changes in women's roles were products of activism which allowed for women's voices to be heard. However, these events occurred sporadically, being neither continuous nor consistent.
Cootntz gives little attention to these two subtle roles of women although they have been performed by women throughout history.
Women as homemakers and child bearers made a greater contribution to the changes in women's roles than did the more powerful, more famous, but more sporadic events described in Coontz"s book.
These contributions were greater because all women had the potential to control their fate through the powerful tools of home and children.