The Subordinate Status Of Women

Prior to the 1800’s, the majority of legal systems regarded ‘wife beating’ as a way in which a husband could assert his dominance and authority over his wife. Within the 1970’s, attention to domestic violence began with the woman’s movement, principally through the introduction of feminism and women’s rights. In recent years however, the way domestic violence is viewed has changed. Previously, domestic violence only occurred within marriage, predominantly against wives and therefore formalised through the use of a marriage contract. Within modern society, domestic violence can now refer to

Throughout the 1800’s in the United States, state laws and cultural practices continued to support a husband's “right” to discipline his wife. It wasn't until 1895 that women were given the right to divorce their husbands no matter the conditions (Dryden-Edwards MD, 2012). Another stride in unveiling the taboo and private nature of domestic violence was made through the Battered Women's Movement, which was a by-product of the Women’s Liberation Movement from the 1960’s. Greatly supported by the Feminist theory, this movement was frequently credited for unmasking the extent of intimate partner violence and agitating for social change (Meyer-Emerick, 2002).

The Victorian Era women was vastly different than the female we think of nowadays. Women during that time were expected to fulfill more of a domestic and motherly role, one that stayed at home and took care of the house. They were confined within the private sphere of the world while the men toiled away in the public sphere. The ideal Victorian women was described as:

The article, The Cult of Womanhood: 1820 - 1860 written by Barbara Welter discusses the philosophy towards women in America during the mid 19th century. A set of demands and expectations based upon four principles: piety, purity, submission and domesticity were placed on women as well as certain behavioral expectations left 19th century women feeling guilty. It also left women feeling this way during the industrialization period as well as having a huge presence of incompatibility with society. Welter shares her viewpoint that the Cult of Womanhood was an attempt to preserve pre modern values in the industrial age. Men held a dominant place in society and continued to prevent new opportunities for women to explore. Narrow minded

Women’s lives were shaped by the “Cult of true Womanhood” where the general belief of a “true” woman was based upon a variety of expectations from women in the 19th century. The criterion was that women should remain pious, pure, submissive and domestic. Women who were outspoken and who participated in public relations were unattractive to men. Women were part of the private sphere in which they took part in house duties and raising children. The status of women in society changed rapidly during the Progressive Era. Women sought job opportunities as clerical workers and others who were of good wealth took the opportunity to pursue a prominent

During the Victorian Era, women struggled to attain gender equality by challenging the traditional roles that defined them. These women no longer wanted to remain passive and obey the demands of their husbands nor be domestic and the caretakers of their children. They strived to attain the role of a 'New Woman', an intelligent, liberated individual who was able to openly express her ideas (Eltis 452). Whereas some women were successful in attaining this new role, others were still dominated by their male counterparts. The men felt threatened by the rising power of women and repressed them by not allowing them to work, giving them unnecessary medications, and diagnosing them with hysteria (Gilman

The United States has a long history of domestic violence. Nearly six million American women will be battered by their spouses every year (United Way, 1998). Tradition gives men the right to control their family including their wife. Violence

In “The Rule of Love’: Wife Beating as Prerogative and Privacy,” Reva Siegal explains the socio-legal vulnerability of early 19th century American wives to domestic violence, especially wife beating and how it correlates with wife murder. Unlike wife beating in the early 19th century where men were allowed to give “chastisement” to the wife, murder was not taken lightly in the slightest. Women were, “according to the Anglo-American law,” ordered to give up their “values of paid and unpaid labor,” property, and rights not only as a woman but as a human (2122). Women also gave up their ability to fight in court against their husband due to their legal status merging with their husband. This made the ability for the husband to beat his wife significantly more capable due to the repercussions being slim to none; however, wife murder was not acceptable in society, law, or any other forms of modern civilization. As it seemed to be prevalent in society to beat one’s wife unlike wife murder, it was more present in popular culture versus the “published judicial” culture until murder was committed. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat (1843) thematically posits the vulnerability of an early 19th century American wife to not only being beaten, but even murdered, by her husband, as the narrator’s wife-beating escalates without legal interdiction until, ironically, after he has murdered her.

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

4.) “…greater social, political, economic, and cultural power of men has structured this “private” sphere to the disadvantage of women and children, rendering them vulnerable to domestic violence without outside interference, often leaving women economically dependent on men…” (Camp, 2011:49,50)

Social standing, and moral values were vital elements in Victorian society, and the fundamental doctrine of establishing this ideology, began at home. The home provided a refuge from the rigour, uncertainty, anxiety, and potential violence of the outside world. (P, 341) A woman’s role was to provide a safe, stable, and well-organised environment for their husbands and families. However, change was on the horizon with an underlying movement of business and domestic changes both home and abroad, with industrialization, and the suffragist movement. Women were beginning to gain autonomy and began to grasp their opportunities, thus significantly curtailing male supremacy and the definable acceptable ‘role’ of the woman.

Historically, domestic violence on females has evolved drastically. It used to be a norm for women to be objects of their fathers or husbands and lacked civil rights. In many cultures, domestic violence was not preceded as a crime. According to Marcia Chaiken’s article “Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice,” she explains the history of violence against women and how it has evolved through the centuries. Chaiken states how women experience physical and sexual violence by their intimate partners which leave harmful effects on mental and physical health, and their ability to live healthy and productive lives. In the past, men had the right to use physical force against their wives and forcing sex was considered a private relational problem. Forcing sex was sought as romance back in the day, not rape. Religions generally discouraged the act of physical abuse within relationships, but women had to obey the men because they lived under his roof. A common perception of the past was that a man’s home was inviolate and authorities cannot interfere with relationships. Around the 1960s, women

The Victorian man was expected to be self-made, which identified that he had worked for his money, not inherited it or born into it. Victorian men were extremely hard working and were responsible for making money for the household and providing the food. They believed in delayed gratification; would much rather wait and work for something they need rather than be given the instant satisfaction without work. For Victorian women it was traditional and expected to be submissive to their husbands will. Women were pure and responsible for attending to their children’s wants and needs.

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,

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.