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Women's Rights In The Victorian Era

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Women’s rights activist, Malala Yousafzai, has said, “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” The fight for women’s equality is one that has its origins traced back many years. Women have always been dependent upon men and have been denied the same freedom men are granted. Why are women different from men even though they are both humans. Even though women today are still fighting for equality, one of hardest times for them was the Victorian Era in which where they were confined to their gender roles and had little to no rights. Women were considered inferior from all aspects of life. From being considered their father’s property to their husband’s property. Charlotte Bronte had to change her name to a male pen name so that her …show more content…

In the Victorian Era, women hardly had any rights from having jobs to abiding by a dress code. Before they were even married, they experienced prejudice . According to the “The Working and Middle Classes in Victorian Era England”, women were seen (by men) as emotional and unstable to the point where “they were incapable of making rational decisions.” This was completely unfair for women because the fact that they raised kids and managed domestic life showed their responsibility proved that they could make rational decisions. This denies their basic human rights because women have the freedom to think and make decisions. Once a woman marries, all of her property would go to her husband and she must live under his shadow. If there was a divorce, the children would go to the men, leaving the women with nothing. Men could have premarital sex but women had to be chaste, otherwise they would be seen as sinners. The most degrading thing was their employment. The reason why women could not live a single life was because there would be no way they could make a living. This is why, “Women in the Victorian Era” explains “The reason women went into prostitution was because other jobs for women were limited and didn't make nearly as much money.” As for those who wanted to live alone, they had to choose degrading jobs such as prostitution. This is unfortunate how corrupt society was, having no respect for women. The image above is a clear example that displays the gender inequality in the Victorian Era. Here we can see women being subjugated under men, forced to obey their husbands. Many husbands were abusive to their womenfolk, which can be seen in Oliver Twist, where Nancy was killed because she had left her house and didn’t obey her husband. The fact that it was not a big deal killing her, highlights the prejudice towards women in the time period, that she must have sinned so it is okay. The reason men felt this power

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Women have fought for ages in order to be able to gain the same rights and freedoms as men for years dating all the way back to the 1700s. Then, leading up to the 1800’s the Victorian era began when women were assigned their position in society of cleaning the house, taking care of the children, and keeping to themselves and the household running. This can be seen as a direct correlation between women and how they are portrayed in the book Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott. The women in this novella are seen as the lowest class of society and have little to no intelligence. They are meant to stay at home and keep things in order while the men go out and work and live in the flatland.

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