Course:HIST317/Sex and Gender
1.Mother's Union
Who: Victorian/Edwardian women
What:strove, not necessarily for advancment in the political sphere, but for better/equal status in the home, marriage and religion.
When: established 1886
Where: England (duh)
Why: the Mother's Union is significant because it shows variety within the women's movement. For instance, the Mother's Union faught for recognition, dignity and respect within the societal sphere as opposed to the politcal sphere.
- volunteerism and moral feminism
- governement couldn't have done minimal intervention-gov't lets us volunterr-taking advantage
- middle class initiative because they were the ones who had the time to take up these things.
Ontological closure – The creation of specific roles for women during the 19th century was done through a device known as binary opposition. The roles of men and women were defined in their opposition to one another. So if an ideal man was defined by the fact that he worked to support the family, then an ideal woman was defined by the fact that she did not work to support the family. This ontological closure was defined by the creation of a reality that was closed, women or men could not change their position in the world because their roles were in opposition to one another.
Source: Uneven Developments: The Ideological Work of Gender in Mid-Victorian England Mary Poovey http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6k4ABSQ2pZUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=Ontological+Closure+britain&ots=XA6OrfLjwp&sig=foeSUkob4gRJcJ6LbJHVRF1y1zE
Decline of patriarchy – The decline of patriarchy involved a shift away from gender in the economy. Where previously men had been the deciding force in the economy, making decisions for how their families worked, there was instead a shift towards paternalism where the interests of capital and worker were controlled through family, work, and community life.
Source - Technology, Control, and the Social Organization of Work at a British Hardware Firm, 1791-1891 William G. Staples The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jul., 1987), pp. 62-8
Feminization of madness and sexual basis of madness - During the 19th century in Britain madness became a gendered concept, with the assumption that it was a female condition. Its presentation in popular culture, in plays and literature was that it was largely something that affected women. This representation was important, as it was one way of presenting women as the weaker of the two sexes. If their minds were less capable of dealing with stress and rigors of day-to-day life then they were obviously incapable of dealing with positions of leadership where stress would only be increased. Supporters of this idea pointed to the fact that there were more women in asylums then men which became known when statistics were first released in the 1850s.
Source: The Feminization of Madness in Visual Representation Jane E. Kromm http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0046-3663%28199423%2920%3A3%3C507%3ATFOMIV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M
Prep schools – Private schools for the upper and middle classes during the 19th century were considered a necessary prerequisite for social standing and ability to properly manage and govern businesses. The emphasis in the prep schools was on a classical education with philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle being studied to the detriment of the sciences. The schools were single sex with the vast majority being for boys. The preparatory schools also educated their pupils about the proper mannerisms for social interaction, creating a social standard. This meant that it was very easy to pick out people who had not been able to afford a private school education as their social behaviour would be just different enough to mark them out.
Inverts – This was British slang for a homosexual. The word came from the assumption that a male homosexual would be feminine and a female homosexual would be masculine. It was illegal to engage in homosexual activity, as evinced by Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment. Such behaviour was viewed as a “secret vice” and was taboo to speak of.
Source - Nameless Offences: Homosexual Desire in the 19th Century By Harry Cocks http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=deniaAw7CFsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=homosexuality+19th+century+britain&ots=E_cmIlKHfZ&sig=aXWXhdEXgM1ZS4GvMjlfDdK8SU4#PPA52,M1
'The ripper' new women – The new woman was a response to the gender double standard present in Britain in the 19th century. Some women, rejected the overarching constraints on females, refusing to wear things like corsets, and in some cases even forgoing marriage for a professional career. Jack the Ripper was an infamous murdere who appeared around the end of the 19th century, his presence was seen as indicative of the moral downfall of Great Britain, and in part the new woman was blamed for his onset. Such lax morals from the women had obviously contributed to his existence
Source - The New Woman and the Empire
By Iveta Jusová
Women’s complaint – This related to the fact that women were seen to be weaker than men from a medical perspective. In connection with the feminization of madness, their weaker mental state was also linked to a weaker physical state. This meant preventing them from participating in strenuous physical activity, this was merely another way that a system in place helped promote a stereotype that ensured that women were unable to participate fully in wielding power in society.
Source - Women's Voices in Nineteenth-Century Medical Discourse: A Step toward Deconstructing Science Nancy M. Theriot http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-9740%28199323%2919%3A1%3C1%3AWVINMD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G
1869 The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mills This was an essay for the equality of women. It has been suggested that Mill’s wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, helped him to write the essay. Mill argues that social and legal conditions hinder the civil liberties of women. He states that if women were allowed equality there would be many benefits. There would be improved conditions in marriage relations and women would no longer be legally subjected to their husbands. There would be a removal of the ‘self worship’ in men who think they are superior, because of their gender. A new family model of the ‘virtues of freedom would be set up. Finally, there would be a “promotion of human progress and the greatest happiness for all through the addition to society of new and diverse intellectual forces which will result from improved and equal education and opportunities form women.” (Elizabeth S. Smith. “John Stuart Mill’s “The Subjection of Women”: A Re-examination.” Polity. Vol.34 No. 2(Winter 2001) pp181-203. Online. JSTOR.). Mill’s essay is important, became it became a bible for women who wanted to see changes in their gender.
1880-1914 The New Woman. The New Woman represented the changing society of Britain. The New Woman (mostly made up of the middle class) challenged the passive stereotypes of Victorian was women and the cult of domesticity. New Women stood out in society, because they used birth control, smoked in public, wore trousers, rode bicycles and most shocking to the Victorians these women postponed marriage. Most importantly New Women revealed they had sexual desires just as men did and the use of birth control demonstrated that they were asserting their independence over their bodies. The New Woman is significant, because she demonstrated the changing gender roles in society, opened up the public arena for the beginning of change, and told the world that women were important and intellectuals.
1886 Mother’s Union The Mother’s Union was an organization that was committed not to the extension of women’s role in the public sphere, but for the “greater protection, dignity and status of women within the context of marriage, religion, motherhood and home” (Harris 28). The Mother’s Union was significant, because it gave women personal liberation in the domestic sphere; the protection from multiple childbirths, escape from the hardships of paid employment and possession of a home.
1894 Women’s Industrial Council The council was organized and led by middle-class ‘social feminists.’ The council was successful in promoting female trade-unionism and gained some acceptance form working men on local trades, but sine it was led by middle-class women there was a lack of understanding of what the skilled working women needed. The ‘social feminists’ did not involve themselves with the skilled working women over “ideological reasons (in this, case, commitment to socialism) and not as an expression of pre-existing class solidarity” (Harris 147). Nevertheless, the Women’s Industrial Council was important, because of their involvement in trade unions and making the concerns of working women heard.
1894-1914 Rainbow Circle The Rainbow Circle was a club for the progressive Liberal intelligentsia of London made up of men who did not believed in the enfranchisement of females. Men went to the club to dine and debate. Even though the club never included any women, there were lectures that “emphasized women’s moral and physical incapacity for civic affairs” (Harris 31). The famous Rainbow Circle wsa just another excuse for men to stay away from the household and discuss what they thought was important for society.
1903 Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) The union was formed by a respectable group of middle-class and aristocratic women. The leading female was Emmeline Pankhurst who kept suffrage in the British public realm and brought international attention to the cause. The organization’s goal was to extend women’s suffrage and believed in sexual equality. The group achieved this by introducing suffrage bills to parliament. However, WSPU had a militant organization when it came to their methods. The women often held demonstrations that led to numerous arrests of its members. WSPU was important, because the organization attracted many followers and aligned itself with parliamentary supporters.
1913 Cat and Mouse Act The Cat and Mouse was a repressive measure of the British government to keep suffragettes in check. Before the act, imprisoned women were force fed by the use of tubes, hoses and metal jaw clamps while guards poured gruel down their throats, however, women refused to eat as a form of protests. Women gained sympathy and support from the people and created solidarity within the movement. The Act allowed for the release of imprisoned women who refused to eat, then re-incarcerated them once they started to eat and had gained their strength back. The pattern of release and re-imprisonment could double or extend the time of sentence when served in three day segments. The Cat and Mouse Act was important to the suffragette’s movement, because it demonstrated the harshness of the government and kept the suffrage cause in the news. Most importantly it showed that women were tough and could and would endure anything for a cause they believed in.
Chronology
1857 Matrimonial Cause Act pg74
1859 The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin pg26
1864 The Contagious Disease Act pg29
1869 John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women pg28
1870-1900 Decline in birth rates pg46
1870 and 1882 Married Women’s Property Act pg76
1871 The Census of 1871 pg44
1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh publish Birth Control literature pg 47-18; Working-Ladies Guild
1880-1914 The New Woman
1883 Women's Co-operative Guild
1886 Mother’s Union pg27
1894 Women’s Industrial Council pg146
1894-1914 Rainbow Circle pg31
1898 The Vagrancy Act pg26
1899 The Power of Womanhood by Ellice Hopkins pg25
1903 Women’s Social and Political Union
1905 Women’s Suffrage movement split over issue of parliament bill pg29
1906 George Newman’s Study on infant morality pg 53
1908 The Registrar General’s Report on birth rates pg48
1908 Old Age Pension Act pg66
1910 National Social Party Crusade pg46
1911 Clerical employment for women and men grew from 100,000 to ¾ ‘s of a millionpg129
1913 Mental Deficiency Act pg29
1914 Letter’s from Working Women pg 49
For More Information...
Women of Nineteenth Century England: Divide by Social Class http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/history/19/classes.htm