I seen this mentioned in a thread on /d/, I posted saying I was gonna post this thread when gurochan came back up, but I'm happy to see someone else taking up the initiative.

I once started a story about a world where woman could survive decapitation, and how society would change. Let's imagine that in this universe, around the turn of the 20th century, it becomes clear that any woman who loses her head also loses control of her body, but is now functionally immortal, with even their aging halted. Would they lose or gain status in society? Perhaps a head would become a wise, revered figure, especially if they were beheaded long ago. It wouldn't be unusual for such individuals to "head" various institutions,or even states. Imagine the jokes.

Or maybe society would consider heads to be less than human, and thus relegated to being second-class citizens with little rights. At worst they would be considered objects-talking paperweights/alarm clocks, with obvious lewd uses for them. Their immortality would work against them here, with their now unneeded brains being scooped out so the heads can be used as a living bucket, or even a toilet. And that's not even getting into what society would do with the leftover bodies.

Those woman who have kept their heads attached to the necks face the risk of losing their rights every time they step outside. Decapitating woman without permission is still a crime, but not a capital offense anymore, so the risk would be there. Work places could put it into their contracts that female workers who fail to meet certain quotas will forfeit their bodies to the company, adding an extra layer of competition to the workplace. Sorry, Cindy, but we gotta make cuts to the workforce. Don't worry, we'll find a use for your head somewhere...

There's different variations on this you could use-what if they retained control over their bodies? What if they didn't, but the bodies were stilll able to walk around and function on their own? Would they be considered two different legal entities? Or have the same rights?