I completely agree with all the people who feel that women are treated horribly in this book. I did some research about women and the beat movement, and I found that there were very few influential women in the movement. In fact, according to one article, a lot of women in the movement ended up dead or crazy because of the treatment they recieved. According to the same article, "it was hard for women to get away with a Bohemian existence in that era: they were regarded as crazy, and removed from the scene by force (e.g. by being subjected to electroshock)."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_generation#Women_of_the_Beat_Generation)
In general, women were not equal during the 50's and 60's regardless of whether or not they were part of the Beat movement, or were around people in the Beat movement. Even today, despite the fact that women are generally seen as equal to men in most respects, they are still portrayed in demeaning ways in our media. The treatment of women in On the Road is horrible and denouncable, but it is unfortunately in touch with the time in which it takes place. Analyzing the view of women in On the Road is essential to understanding On the Road, the Beat movement and the time period.