Why Are Women Seen As Low?

While reading Catch-22 I have realized that women are portrayed very baldy. Why is that? Why are women seen as low in the novel? They are constantly seen like this in old novels, but it shows even more in this novel.  The women in the soldiers' lives are either prostitutes or nurses.  This is definitely not something good.  Could this image be portrayed in these novels because women had no rights during this time? Were these authors against women gaining their independence? These are questions that only the author will be able to answer directly.  I do not believe that it is something that will be found in the novel, but there is always a possibility.  This is a question that has been constantly raised while reading and in the reading groups we have in class.  The answer so far has been unknown, but I believe that it is important since the ideas in novels are affected by the situations or environments in which they are written.