Stereotypes Of Women During The Victorian Era

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For centuries, women have struggled to find their place in society. Women have always been seen as physically and intellectually inferior to men, and society’s stereotypes are the reason for it. Society standards are telling women how to act and how to look, and these stereotypes have an immense effect on how we expect women to be. The Europeans were no exception to this. Before the Victorian era, women were viewed as being lesser than and not quite matching up to men. However, the Victorian era brought about great change for the women’s movement. The Victorian era was detrimental to the evolution of women’s education, basic rights, and perception that developed a new way of thinking for all of Europe. Women prior to the Victorian era were …show more content…

Actually, many rights that we see as basic in modern times were withheld from these women. Heffer notes that in the pre Victorian era women could not get divorced, own property, legally protect their own bodies, vote, or hold political office; however, change was coming. First, the Infant Custody Act was passed in 1839 that legally gave women custody of any child she had fewer than seven in a court of law if she separated from her husband. This was a detrimental ruling because previously the custody was given to the husband no matter what. According to Heffer, divorce was finally made available for every one with the Matrimonial Causes Act in 1857. There was also an amendment to the Married Women’s Property Act which legally recognized women as individuals rather than property of their husbands. The evolution of women’s rights during the Victorian era was definitely the most critical and quick with women obtaining the right to divorce due to violence, keep any money she earned, and become entitled to child support within the following 15 years …show more content…

Yildrim proved that before the Victorian era, society had many views of women that were practically set in stone such as the idea that women were not only physically but also intellectually inferior to men. Society also perceived women as being a servant to her husband and children and believed that women were destined to become a wife and mothers and that’s as far as they would go (Gordon). According to Heffer, many people also believed that gender violence, such as rape and battery, were legal as long as the man did not kill his wife, and thought that women could not be sexual

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