Gender Roles In Victorian England

Victorian England- Gender and Sexuality

The rule of Queen Victoria lasted from 1837 until 1901. During her reign, men’s and women’s roles were becoming more defined than ever before. Previously, women helped their husbands in their jobs. For example, they lived above shop so they could help serve customers as well as do their normal domestic duties. However, as the industrial age began, more men travelled to work in factories, offices or shops. This left the females at home to attend to their duties and to keep an eye on their domestic staff.

In Victorian England, men were stereotyped to be strong, intelligent, and the money makers of the family. Women were stereotyped to be the care takers of the family, weak, and often subject to men’s authority.

This was extremely enforced which lead to women who devoted themselves to intellectual pursuits being called a ‘blue-stocking’. This portrayed these women as unfeminine and off-putting because they were attempting to undermine men’s superiority in that field. In this time, some doctors reported that too much studying had a damaging effect on the ovaries. This was widely believed to be true which thus lead to families being afraid to send their clever daughters to Oxford and Cambridge, who opened their doors to women later in the century, in fear of making them unmarriageable. Even though the Education Acts that took place in 1870 and 1878 required compulsory education for girls, it still enforced the separate ‘spheres’ for both genders. A women’s education consisted of learning things like embroidery and drawing; things that were seen as essential for a woman to know. Some middle-class girls had the chance to receive an education along the lines of their male peers. However, it was still believed that these skills weren’t needed as in the end the women’s role was still to be a mother, a wife and to supervise domestic staff. This quotation from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (chapter 8) shows what types of skills women needed to know: “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages….; and besides all

However, the male normally was 5 years older. This helped establish the ‘natural’ superiority of the male while also providing financial stability. Before a women’s father would give his daughter away, the male must show that he could provide for them. This can well for some couples who have money but for some the engagement can last decades because the man doesn’t have enough money to sustain a family.

Moreover, the standards were completely opposite for men. Some men who were highly religious may have remained chaste until marriage but the majority of men searched for sex through prostitution. All the major cities had red light districts where it would be easy to find prostitutes. This was so accepted in their society that there were guides for out-of-towners about the best places for prostitutes. Unfortunately, sexually transmitted diseases were ride and men often brought these diseases home to their wives. Some were even unlucky enough to die an early, painful death because of these