Gender Roles In Victorian England
The period known as the Victorian era in England, from 1837 to 1901, had gender roles that drastically defined the difference between a man and a woman. These differences were based on the theory that “men possessed the capacity for reason, action, aggression, independence, and self-interest. Women inhabited a separate, private sphere, one suitable for the so called inherent qualities of femininity: emotion, passivity, submission, dependence, and selflessness, all derived, it was claimed insistently, form women’s sexual and reproductive organization”. 1 Following such principles allowed men, allegedly controlled by their mind or intellectual strength, to dominate society, to be the governing sex, given that they were viewed as rational, brave, and independent. Women, on the other hand, were dominated by their sexuality, and were expected to fall silently into the social mold crafted by men,
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Physicians objected to the health risks and religious leaders objected to the display of the exaggerated female shape. The important place of the corset as a health risk is highlighted in the title of the book An Examination of Five Plagues: Corsets, Tobacco, Gambling, Strong Drink and Illegal Speculation, published in 1857 by Charles Dubois. As the health campaign gathered force, innumerable ills were attributed to the corset (tuberculosis, liver disease, even cancer), but some physicians got to the heart of the problem by emphasizing the extent to which a corset prevented proper muscle development and vigorous exercise.6 By the early 1900s, the public campaign had become a mainstream concern, with two results. First, manufacturers began to emphasize that their corsets were made according to the latest scientific and medical principles, and therefore prevented the vital organs from shifting and would not hinder
Physicians objected to the health risks and religious leaders objected to the display of the exaggerated female shape. The important place of the corset as a health risk is highlighted in the title of the book An Examination of Five Plagues: Corsets, Tobacco, Gambling, Strong Drink and Illegal Speculation, published in 1857 by Charles Dubois. As the health campaign gathered force, innumerable ills were attributed to the corset (tuberculosis, liver disease, even cancer), but some physicians got to the heart of the problem by emphasizing the extent to which a corset prevented proper muscle development and vigorous exercise.6 By the early 1900s, the public campaign had become a mainstream concern, with two results. First, manufacturers began to emphasize that their corsets were made according to the latest scientific and medical principles, and therefore prevented the vital organs from shifting and would not hinder