Quote: "During this era, whose sobriquet refers to the reign of a female monarch, Queen Victoria, women did not have the right to vote, sue, or if married, own property."
The expectations placed on men and women during the Victorian era, and the ways in which these changed over time.
Patriarchy: Patriarchy is a social system in which males hold primary power and authority over females in roles such as political leadership, moral authority, privilege, and control of property.
Separate Spheres: Separate Spheres is a term used to describe the rigid distinctions between men's and women's roles and activities in Victorian society. Men were expected to hold power and authority in the public sphere, while women were confined to domestic tasks in the private sphere.
Masculinity: Masculinity is the set of gender norms associated with males, including traits such as toughness, self-reliance, and emotionlessness. The Victorian era saw the rise of a new focus on masculinity, with men being expected to embody these traits in order to be considered successful.
Femininity: Femininity is the set of gender norms associated with females, including traits such as nurturing, empathy, and sensitivity. Victorian women were expected to embody these traits in order to be considered successful as wives and mothers.
Sexuality: Sexuality was a taboo topic in Victorian society, with strict codes of conduct governing the expression of sexual desire and behavior. Men were often given more sexual freedom than women, who were expected to remain chaste until marriage.
Modesty: Modesty was highly valued in Victorian society, with both men and women expected to dress modestly and avoid any behavior that could be considered immodest or sexually provocative.
Marriage: Marriage was considered the ultimate goal for both men and women in Victorian society, with women being expected to marry in order to achieve social and financial security. Marriage was often seen as a transactional relationship, with women providing domestic labor and social status in exchange for financial support.
Motherhood: Motherhood was considered the most important role for women in Victorian society, with women being expected to prioritize their children's needs above their own desires or ambitions.
Education: Education was seen as primarily a male domain in Victorian society, with women being denied access to most formal educational opportunities. However, the Victorian era also saw the rise of women's education movements and the establishment of women's colleges.
Women's Rights: The Victorian era saw the emergence of feminist movements that sought to challenge the traditional gender roles and social expectations imposed on women. Women's rights activists campaigned for women's suffrage, access to education and employment opportunities, and reproductive rights.
Quote: "Women labored within the paid workforce in increasing numbers following the Industrial Revolution."
Quote: "Women's rights were extremely limited in this era, losing ownership of their wages, their physical property excluding land property, and all other cash they generated once married."
Quote: "Under English common law a married woman lost her legal independence, she could not enter contracts or sue and her property, and obligations were mostly subsumed by those of her husband, the couple becoming a single legal entity."
Quote: "Upon divorce women generally had no rights to any property accumulated during marriage usually leaving them impoverished."
Quote: "In other countries such as France women would maintain legal rights to any property she possessed prior to marriage."
Quote: "Marriage abrogated a woman's right to consent to sexual intercourse with her husband, giving him effective 'ownership' over her body."
Quote: "There were sharp distinctions between men's and women's rights during this era; men were allotted more stability, financial status, and power over their homes and women."
Quote: "Women's rights groups fought for equality and over time made strides in attaining rights and privileges."
Quote: "Many Victorian women endured their husband's control and even cruelty, including sexual violence, verbal abuse, and economic or sexual deprivation, with no way out."
Quote: "Divorce was considered to be a social taboo."
Quote: "Women were seen, by the middle classes at least, as belonging to the domestic sphere, and this stereotype required them to provide their children and husbands with a clean home, compelled them to prepare meals, and forced mothers to raise their children."
Quote: "Feminist ideas spread among the educated middle classes, discriminatory laws were repealed, and the women's suffrage movement gained momentum in the last years of the Victorian era."
Quote: "Prior to the passage of the Married Women's Property Act 1870 and Married Women's Property Act 1882 the property and legal rights of married women in Britain were severely limited or almost nonexistent."
Quote: "Any personal property acquired by the wife during the marriage effectively came under the full control of her husband."
Quote: "Marriage abrogated a woman's right to consent to sexual intercourse with her husband, giving him effective 'ownership' over her body."
Quote: "Wives endured infidelity, as they had no right to divorce on these grounds."
Quote: "Women were able to retain some property they possessed prior to marriage in certain cases."
Quote: "The Married Women's Property Act 1870 and Married Women's Property Act 1882 improved married women's property rights in Britain."
Quote: "Victorian women were disadvantaged both financially and sexually, enduring inequalities within their marriages and society."