I disagree. Men were taught that they were worth more than women and the caveats to claim that a woman didn't deserve protection were so many that in practice, when a woman actually needed protection, the man could claim some of the excuses and simply not offer it.

Example: a woman is raped by a family friend. Theoretically, she should be protected. In practice she was considered a whore and culprit of the rape. And she ended being the one punished for being raped.

As for men abandoning women, it was quite common through history. It happened all the time, and since it wasn't child support, the women and the children were on their own. At least with feminism there is child support.

It seems to me that you want to idealize patriarchy by intentionally not paying attention to the historical documents that narrate a way different situation. For example, Alexander Hamilton. Abandoned by his father. The father faced no reprecusions. The fact that people don't dwell to much on that parts of their biographies doesn't mean it didn't happen.

It seems to me that you want to blame feminism for things that, in fact, have a lot more to do with sexism and the way men are socialized in patriarchy. In patriarchy, a man can acusse without proof a woman of cheating or being a whore to deny the protection at any time and get away without reprecusions.

So you might want to take a look at biographies, you might find out that the father staying was pretty much a choice for him. Mistresses, widows and bastards do existed way before feminism.