Women's Roles During The Victorian Era

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During the Victorian period men and women’s roles became more sharply defined than at any time in history. Society during this era made it almost impossible for women to make any advancement. Throughout the Victorian era, women were treated as inferior and typically reduced to roles as mothers and wives. Some women, however, were fortunate to become governesses or schoolteachers. No matter what, these educated women were still at the mercy of men. Males dominated the opinions of women, and limited their influence in society. From an early age, young men were trained to be dominant figures and protectors over their home and country. One of the bigger movements in that era relate to women’s rights. In terms of gender ideology, the accession …show more content…
Publicly, men dominated all decision-making in political, legal and economic affairs. But as monarch, Victoria - who in 1837 was only 18 years old - was socially and symbolically superior to every other citizen in Britain, all men being constitutionally considered her subjects. During this era there were certain social expectations that the separate genders were expected to adhere to. Men and women had very distinct roles, especially in the upper classes of society. Women were considered physically weaker yet morally superior to men in the Victorian Era. The Victorian women was seen as the ideal woman, the angel in the house, even after the Victorian era. Most women during the Victorian era were expected to fulfill the duties of a housewife while raising their children and maintaining their household, on the other hand the men were expected to work support the family and be powerful, dominant leader of the house. Women were highly pressured by society to be the best woman possible-- that primarily meant marrying a person you hardly know and keep a smile on your face the whole time. Women …show more content…
Male employment shifted from agriculture to heavy industry, manufacturing and transport, with an accompanying increase in clerical and professional occupations. Men also left domestic service, which remained the largest category of female employment throughout the period (employing 10 percent of the female population in 1851, for example, and over 11 percent in 1891). Women also worked in textile mills, potteries, agriculture and garment-making, as well as in seasonal or unrecorded employment, especially laundering. It is shown that while most men worked, only one-third of all women were in employment at any time in the 19th century. There were only men in the army and navy, in shipbuilding, construction, printing, railways - to list some major occupations - and only male scientists, engineers, priests, City financiers and Members of Parliament. In the aristocracy, neither men nor women normally worked for wages. But men managed their estates and took part in government, while 'society women' supported these activities through household management and political entertaining. At the top of the tree, so to speak. However, the majority of upper- and middle-class women never worked outside the home. Nevertheless, although leisure time undoubtedly increased for many, unoccupied Victorian
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