Women's Rights In The Victorian Era

During the nineteenth century, women had few rights, and were often objectified by men. An ideal woman was subservient to her husband, had plenty of children, and was not expected to work outside the home. As the Victorian era progressed, some women

The Victorian Era is a remarkable time in history with the blooming industries, growing population, and a major turnaround in the fashion world. This era was named after Queen Victoria who ruled United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 1837 until she passed away 64 years later in January 1901.When Victoria received the crown, popular respect was strikingly low. The lack of respect for the position she had just come into did not diminish her confidence. Instead she won the hearts of Britain with her modesty, grace, straightforwardness, and her want to be informed on the political matters at hand even though she had no input. She changed Britain into a flourishing country. She also impacted how women interacted

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:

Women in the mid-1800s had nearly any rights they could not vote or hold office. If women were to get married their husband got all of the property he owned all her wages if she worked the husband could hit his wife long as it did not injure her. Women held many rallies and other events to try and get equal right. The Women's Rights Movement allowed women a chance to go to college and other schooling opportunities. Finally women got the same jobs as men they got paid the same they owned all of their property and wages.

A house is not a home if no one lives there. During the nineteenth century, the same could be said about a woman concerning her role within both society and marriage. The ideology of the Cult of Domesticity, especially prevalent during the late 1800’s, emphasized the notion that a woman’s role falls within the domestic sphere and that females must act in submission to males. One of the expected jobs of a woman included bearing children, despite the fact that new mothers frequently experienced post-partum depression. If a woman were sterile, her purposefulness diminished. While the Cult of Domesticity intended to create obliging and competent wives, women frequently reported feeling trapped or imprisoned within the home and within societal

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.

The ideal home in Victorian Britain was romanticized by means of social values. The man of the house was simply the man of the house. He threw down the gavel, while the woman made sure the house was a well-oiled machine. With these separate spheres of work and home becoming more important for a well-run lifestyle, Victorian domestic households shifted from primarily economic to sentimental and emotional . The chivalric hard-working man provided for the family while the domestic woman watched over the household and to make sure things ran smooth as well as making sure the house was a peaceful safe haven for her family as well as company one may welcome in for a hospitable

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

In my website source “Women in the Victorian Era” this specific source talks mainly about the strenuous life of being a female in the Victorian Era. This source goes into detail about how society was during the Victorian Era. Women were treated as if they didn’t own rights to their own body.

The industrialisation of Great Britain saw the rise of an ideology called ‘Separate Spheres’ for men and women. Although the idea of separation of the sexes took precedence in the 19th century, the basic concept of gendered roles had been present for a long time. The shift to industrialisation meant that men were paid for factory based work and women were idealised homemakers and mothers. This emphasis was also compounded by the fact that in the late nineteenth century Queen Victoria was seen to be the ideal woman; she represented everything the separate spheres idealised. She was seen as to be devoted to her husband and her children, and was therefore extremely respectable.

Victorian women had several hardships to overcome. Education, marriage, leisure, and travel amongst other things were limited and controlled. A woman was never to travel if not in the company of her parents or husband. Leisure, for example, was limited and a woman always had to look busy and find something to do. They did not have the right to vote, sue or own any property. Their bodies

During Victoria’s reign there were changes of great importance economically, socially, and technologically. London had a rapid growth from a 2 million to a 6.5 million population by the time of Queen Victoria’s death, due to a significant change. As a result of the industrialization, instead of a life based on ownership of lands, England was transformed to a modern economy. Based on trade and manufacturing they changed from an agrarian society in 1800’s with 75% rural to an industrial society by the 1900’s with a 75% modern urban economy. Socially, there were extreme discriminations especially between men and women. Consequently, women were not eligible for a higher education, employment and were denied the right to vote. Gradually and by the end of Victoria’s reign, women won significant political and legal rights. These included a greater access to education, the custody of children, economic independence and were able to work under fair conditions. Definitely, the Victorian Period was an era of dramatic changes that highly developed England’s power and

Women were only there for men, and the most important aspect of that was marriage. From the time they were young they were set to be beautiful, because only the pretty girls got the richest man. The girls were groomed and basically put on show like a common day racehorse. In addition to being good-looking, a young girl was expected to be able to sing, play an instrument and speak French and Italian. They needed to be gentle, innocent and ignorant of their intellectual opinions. Women in the Victorian society were meant to be weak, helpless, fragile and unable to think for themselves. There only job was to make sure the home was comfortable for the children and the man of the house. Her one use to the world was to produce a large family and a neutral and calm family atmosphere. In those times the man was the moneymaker and the woman was there to keep the house clean and tranquil.

When a woman married in the Victorian age, she did not have an independent legal status. Women also had no right to any money, including the money that she earned and worked for. She could not make a will or buy property, she had no claim to her children, and she had to move with her spouse wherever he went. If the husband died, he could name his wife as the guardian of the children, but he did not have to if he did not wish to.

The expectations that society and men had for women during the Victorian Era were onerous. They limited women from exploring and questioning ideas outside the realm of domesticity. Womens’ roles focused solely on getting married and taking part in advancing their husbands interests. The man was given, by society, an authoritative role over the household leaving very little or no room for women authority. Prior to marriage, the women, excluding those who were born to a wealthy or noble family, were trained in housewife skills such as cooking, cleaning and sewing. Wealthy women did not need to prepare for these tasks because they had maids and other servants take care of