Women in the 1800’s
Women had no rights in the 1800’s and were put through abuse, violence and rape. Servant women were frequently raped in their master’s house. There was major inequality with men and women and there were very heavy gender roles set that made it almost impossible for these women to escape these homes. Professor Chloe W. Smith, and author Jone J. Lewis, talk about these struggles and how some women tried to combat the struggles. The life of a woman throughout the 1800’s was challenging because of domestic abuse and rape at their workplace, and home and the inequality issues with men and women in society.
The lives of women were different for every class, but there were a lot of things that they shared. Most women went through domestic violence
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The inequality and gender roles made it almost impossible to escape. Servant women were frequently raped and abused by any and all males living in their master’s home. Chloe W. Smith, a teacher at the University Of York, who specializes in the 1800’s, described how in the 19th century, the job of a servant muddled the line between personal and professional and that women were surrounded by sexual pressure from every male in the home, whether that be the male masters or their fellow male servants. Women were commonly and repeatedly raped (Smith). This was the only way these women survived, and the gender roles in society didn’t help these women one bit. Gender roles were strongly set in the 1800’s and didn’t change until around the 1930’s when the Great Depression caused women to have to start working male dominated jobs. In the 19th century though, there weren’t many job options for women to choose from. They could, stay at home as a housewife, work as a servant/maid, be