The Fruits Of Boredom In Victorian England

Women have been a vital key to the shaping and progression of our society. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved. They started from being housewives that don’t have many rights, even in the household, to being valued citizens in our

In the Victorian period “…the childless single woman was a figure to be pitied.” (Abrams. 2001). It was considered to be outside of social hierarchy not to be a part of the domestic scene for women, “domesticity and motherhood were portrayed as sufficient emotional fulfilment for women.” (Abrams. 2001). In reality this was not the case and the role of motherhood and domesticity clearly did not sufficiently fulfil a woman’s emotional desires and requirements, situated in a suppressed, dominant patriarchal society ruled by men. In fact patriarchal society subjugated the role of women; they were seen as lesser than, and required to stay on the domestic

During this period capitalism was taking force and many women were forced to work because they were poor and had no support, yet others saw it as an opportunity to escape the domestic space. Barr states, “…women [were] left adrift in the world without helpers and protectors” (208). This women had no choice because they needed to survive and had no one to ‘protect’ them from the outside world. The latter women were mostly upper and middle-class women who saw working as a chance to enter the public space in order to satisfy political or personal desires. In the article “Discontented Women”, Barr who is against working women, criticizes the married and single upper and middle-class women who without necessity expose themselves to the public sphere. She explains that “the one unanswerable excuse for woman’s entrance into active public life of any kind, is need…” (208). In other words, although a lot of women were working because they needed it, most single and married middle-class women and rich women were working for pleasure, which was not acceptable.

Unfortunately, women have been held at a disadvantage for much of human history. We have been seen as vapid and less worthy than our male counterparts. We have been denied jobs and education, being told that a woman “should stay home and take care of her husband and children”. Even today, we are paid less than men doing the same job as us. Today’s female experience is better than, say, that of a woman in the 1920’s.

Women have virtually the same rights as men. However, the fault needing to be recognized in today’s society is the way that women are treated. Even in simple areas, such as jobs, women are put on the back burner. A woman is able to become a CEO of a company, nonetheless, she will struggle twice as hard as a man would. Even as an employee, women are statistically paid less than men are.

Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.

Despite being under the rule of a female monarch, women faced many inequalities and suffering during the Victorian age. Examples of these inequalities include not having the right to vote, unequal educational and employment opportunities. Women were even denied the legal right to divorce in most cases. As the Norton Anthology states, these debates over women’s rights and their roles came to be known as the “woman question” by the Victorians. This lead to many conflicting struggles, such as the desire by all for women to be educated, yet they are denied the same opportunities afforded to men. While these women faced these difficulties, there was also the notion that women should be domestic and feminine. There was an ideal that women should be submissive and pure because they are naturally different. The industrial revolution introduced women into the labor workforce, but there was still a conflict between the two identities; one of an employed woman, and one of a domestic housewife.

Although they have been given more rights and equality, women still lack fairness in areas such as education, domestic abuse, crime, and lower class value. Cassandra Clifford states in her article “Are Girls still marginalized? Discrimination and Gender Inequality in Today’s Society”, “Woman and girls are abused by their husbands and fathers, young girls are exploited by sex tourism and trafficking, girls in many countries are forced into arranged marriages at early ages. Twice as many women are illiterate as men, due to the large gap in education, and girls are still less likely to get jobs and excel in the work place than boys.” She describes some of the issues that women face today around the world. These issues are what keep society from coming together to form a better world.

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

The year was 1912 in London, England. Women lived at the mercy of their fathers, brothers, husbands and bosses; clearly a patriarchal society. Women’s lives consisted of keeping house and raising children and caring for their families. Those who worked outside of the home were limited to menial labor, earned significantly less than men, and surrendered their earnings to their husbands. Any inheritance of real estate or money a woman may have received was given to her husband and, most often, she had nothing to say about how it was managed or spent. A woman could not vote or run for office, and received little support, should she desire an education other than a ‘finishing school.’ (Clearly,

Throughout history, women have been seen in many different lights. From a woman’s perspective she is strong, smart, helpful and equal to men. In the eyes of men, she is seen as the weaker being, the housewife, and the caretaker. By looking at the following pieces of writing, one can see that through the centuries, women have struggled to break out of the mold that man had put her in and make themselves known in society as important.

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards

Predominantly both essays, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” as well as “The Woman Question and the Victorian Literature On Gender” support the rights for women and is expressed as one of the biggest issues during the Victorian Age. Both authors, showed feminism and believed women deserved respect and equal treatment as men. Even though, the essays were written at different time periods of the Victorian Age the editors agreed that the author’s purpose for writing was to specify that gender does not represent your abilities to prosper as an individual. In other words, everybody should be able to have the same opportunities as they desire. During the Victorian Age, women in particular were known for keeping up with household responsibilities

Women’s empowerment is critical aspect of achieving gender equality (peacecorps.). Gender equality is a human right (peacecorps.). Gender equality is not one homogeneous phenomenon, but a collection of disparate and interlinked problems (“The Many”). In 1963, most Americans did not yet believe that gender equality was possible or even desirable (“Why”). They think they have to choose between having a career and having a family (“Why Women”). Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world (“Achieve”). However, women are frequently subjected to gender norms that limit their opportunities, defining them as mothers, caregivers, or homemakers (“Demand”). The reality is that this idea that they’re ‘natural’ gender roles pushes people into

Women’s empowerment is critical aspect of achieving gender equality (peacecorps.). Gender equality is a human right (peacecorps.). Gender equality is not one homogeneous phenomenon, but a collection of disparate and interlinked problems (“The Many”). In 1963, most Americans did not yet believe that gender equality was possible or even desirable (“Why”). They think they have to choose between having a career and having a family (“Why Women”). Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world (“Achieve”). However, women are frequently subjected to gender norms that limit their opportunities, defining them as mothers, caregivers, or homemakers (“Demand”). The reality is that this idea that they’re ‘natural’ gender roles pushes people into