Discuss the effects of the Victorian sexual role or men and women. How were both impacted by the medical profession?
The sexual role of men and women in the Victorian age would be considered very radical in today s society. They believed that the women should be put on a pedestal and with being put on the pedestal she loses a lot. Also, the modern Medicine that appeared in the Victorian age wasn t appreciated and practiced because of the ridged sexual role beliefs.
The general attitude toward sex in the Victorian age was very negative. Sex was to be had for married couples only for reproduction. People in the Victorian age were so anti-fun sex, that when Dr. Charles Knowlton wrote a book on how sex was a normal human appetite, he went to jail for 3 months on his views. Sex for fun was a sin in the Victorian age, and the prostitutes that sold themselves for sex were considered the lowest people in society. Another common idea on sex was that if a women wasn t a virgin, and she wasn t married, she would never get married because no decent man would want to be married to a women who wasn t a virgin. Also, a women who was single and a not a virgin was thought of as being a nymphomaniac, and if she got married she would go off and have sex with any man she could.
When a man and a women in the Victorian age were to get married, on the wedding day the brides mother would tell her when her husband wanted to have sex that she should just lay down and close her eyes, it would be over very quickly. Much like the women his father would tell the man that when he was to have sex he should get it over with quickly. The reason for the quick sex was so the women wouldn t get any pleasure out of the sex. The belief was that if a woman got pleasure out of sex she would want it all the time. Also, The women would become a nymphomaniac and would do anything to get sex for any man.
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If a woman did have the illness of nymphomania there were some medical steps that could be used to stop her affliction. A woman who was a nymphomaniac could have her clitoris removed and she would be cured of her disease. Also, if a woman couldn t have sex because it was too painful doctors would prescribe a little alcohol laced with opium. This core worked quite well. Women would brink a little sip of the mixture and she was pain free for hours. Another cure for painful sex was for the man to fill a rag with chloroform and cover his wives face with it. This technique would knock the women out and the man could go to town. If sexual problems still occurred you could go to alternative doctors. Herbalists could mix up a herbal remedy for the women to drink. Also, patent medicine was available. This was a miracle concoction made to solve women s problems in bed. Patent medicine was outlawed with the pure food and drug law of 1906.
With sex there comes babies. In the Victorian age when children were born the wife would stay home and raise the children by herself. The father would have nothing to do with the child raising process. Once the family had enough children the couple would stop having sex with each other. The women would have to start practicing abstinence for the good of the family. There is a very good reason that the women stayed home to raise the children, and practiced abstinence. Since all the men worked at factories they would have to go into the city. The city was full of sin and the poor men couldn t help themselves from indulging in the sin. The sins of the city consisted of drinking, gambling, fighting, and whoring. The men were filled with sin, and they couldn t help raise the children because they were soiled. The wife wasn t having sex with anyone, not even her husband, and didn t indulge in the sinful ways of the city and was pure and capable of raising good pure children.
Since the women were at home raising the children all-day they had time to do other things. They weren t allowed to work so many women volunteered at their church. Many movements got started because of these middle class women volunteering. Through the church, women volunteered at homeless shelters, and soup kitchens. There they saw that many of the men who were at the shelters were alcoholics. A movement was started to get men to sign a petition to say they would stop drinking whisky. Another movement these women got into was the women s suffrage movement. Many of these movements were started because these middle class housewives volunteered in their spare time.
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So, once the family had enough children the women stopped having sex altogether, but what about the man. Did he stop having sex? HELL NO! Even though prostitutes were looked down on, men who had to stop having sex with their wives could go to a whore. Whores ranged in price from the cheap prostitute for 5 dollars to the women in the high-class whorehouse that cost 35 dollars. The way to tell if a woman was a prostitute was to look for the color red. All prostitutes wore a red piece of clothing somewhere on their bodies. With all the men going to prostitutes VD became a problem. To combat this all the high class whores would us a condom. The condoms were made with sheep s intestine and tied on with a red ribbon. Later in the Victorian age condoms become made out of rubber.
Being a prostitute was very dangerous in the Victorian age. About 25 percent of all prostitutes died each year. They were dying of VD s and of being beaten to death. Many men would go to whores, normally the cheep ones, and beat them to death. Another problem with prostitution was that 4000 illegitimate babies were being born in England every year due to prostitutes getting pregnant. Also, most of the babies washed up on the banks of a river somewhere. Prostitution was eventually made illegal in both England and America.
According to medical doctors, men needed to go see the prostitutes. Doctors believed that people were healthier when they had sex. Also, men needed to have sex. A study found that people who were getting married were living longer. The doctors said since people who were married were having sex then sex must make you live longer.
One would think that since the prostitutes had access to condoms, why didn t the Victorian couple use them too? Condoms and birth control devices were seen as dirty and sinful. The Catholic Church has a anti-birth control belief as well as the medical doctors. The prostitutes used condoms because they were sinful, but the Victorian women was on the pedestal and had virtually no sin in them. The doctors disapproved of birth control because they made their money delivering babies, and if condoms became widely used their profits would begin to shrink. The doctors said that condoms were immoral. They also said that a man must cum inside women or he would get cancer. There were other contraceptive devices in existence in the Victorian age. The vaginal sponge was available for use. Also, with the discovery of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear, rubber condoms were invented. Also, diaphragms were invented by DR. Foote and could be obtained, but a doctor must make the diaphragm for you. When Dr. Knowlton wrote his book about sex being a human appetite, he also wrote that the fewer children there are the healthier the children there would be. He abdicated the use of dousing, to control births.
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If women did get pregnant in the Victorian age there were ways to get rid of the baby. Woman would get an abortion in the Victorian age. Getting an abortion before quicking, or up to about 5 months, was seen as a moral act in the Victorian society. There were many rather safe ways to get an abortion, but many of them were very expensive. Some women would drink poison to try and kill the fetus, however, many women died because they drank too much poison. Women could also go see a midwife to get an abortion. Midwifes have been giving abortions for hundreds of years, and were very good at them. You could also go see an abortionist. An abortionist was a person who would give you an abortion. An abortion could cost you from 5 dollars, which would be a coat hanger in a dark alley, to 500 dollars, which was at a very good abortion facility. The medical doctors didn t approve of abortions for the same reason they didn t like birth control devices. Abortionists were cutting into the medical doctor s profits. The Catholic Church was also anti-abortion.
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The women who don t chose to get an abortion must either go to a midwife or a medical doctor. Doctor s say that a woman who is pregnant must not drink alcohol, must not have sex, and must never lose their tempers. If a woman does these things when she is pregnant the baby will grow up immoral. Also, the medical doctor s came up with a new was to give birth. Instead of the old fashion way, which was to squat over a bowl, the pregnant woman would lay down. This was a bad idea because now the woman was fighting gravity instead of going with gravity when she squatted. A new idea for childbirth was instituted in 1865 when Joe Lystner discovered germs and introduces washing your hands and medical interments with soap.
Finally the idea of homosexuality was considered to be a mental disorder. Men who were homosexual were viewed as being feminists. They were called Nancy Boys. Homosexuality was called the crime with no name. If a homosexual were caught they would be tried for the crime of sodomy. The punishment of homosexuality was death. The upper class men weren t tried for homosexuality. The thing that scared people about homosexuality was they thought homosexuals would try to turn young boys into homosexuals. The idea of lesbianism wasn t thought of in the Victorian world. Doctors said lesbians didn t exist because women couldn t have sex without a man. However, the idea of two women living together wasn t viewed as being bad.
The medical doctors had a large say in the sexual practices of the Victorian world. They dictated what a couple could and couldn t do with birth control. The medical doctors said how a birth could be terminated. The doctors even said that women should and shouldn t have sex at which time.
Works Cited
http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/gender.html#women
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http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/ jlynch/Lit/victoria.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SMilne6/vic.htm