Victorian Gender and Sexuality

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on Victorian Gender and Sexuality, focusing on societal views of masculinity, femininity, and sexual morality.

What characterized the Victorian period?

A period of economic and social change, as well as urbanization, industrialization, and growth.

What ideal was promoted in Victorian society for both men and women?

Sobriety and respectability.

What role did the family play in the concept of respectability?

The family was viewed as a 'haven in a heartless world'.

What shift occurred in women's social construction during the 18th century?

From a one-body model to a two-body model, emphasizing fundamental differences between men and women.

What was the primary purpose of a woman's existence according to Victorian ideals?

The propagation of the race and the production of the ensuing generation.

What characterizes the Victorian conception of femininity?

Sexual modesty and lack of sex education.

What was the chief aim of marriage in Victorian society?

Procreation.

How was women’s chastity linked to Victorian marriage?

It was used to secure paternity rights.

What was the Victorian view on sex education for women?

There was no sex education or knowledge of menstruation, babies, or sex.

What did Victorians fear about sexual activity?

That too much sex could lead to fatigue and exhaustion.

What was the societal expectation for middle class men's sexual desires?

To control and master their sexual desires.

What did hydraulic sexuality represent in Victorian masculinity?

The need for a sexual outlet, ideally within marriage.

What were the perceived consequences of masturbation according to Victorian medical views?

Physical and mental harm, possibly leading to death.

What was the cultural significance of masturbation during the Victorian era?

It symbolized all that was wrong with the sexual body and a crisis of modernity.

How were young men taught to cope with sexual urges?

By reflecting on solemn thoughts about death.

What is meant by 'Female Husbands' in the context of Victorian gender?

Women who transitioned from assigned-female roles to live as Victorian men.

What commonly held belief about Victorian morality is challenged in historical perspectives?

That Victorians were entirely restrained in their sexual behavior.

What was the general construction of sex workers in the 19th century?

Seen as innately immoral and a subject of criminalization.

How did the image of sex workers change throughout the 19th century?

From good women fallen to sin to career sex workers viewed as pathological.

What were the consequences of the Contagious Diseases Acts on women?

Compulsory hospitalization and inspection of suspected sex workers.

What critique did Josephine Butler have about the regulation of sex workers?

It punished women while leaving men unpunished.

How did the Victorian approach to sex work reflect broader social inequalities?

Women's forced participation was connected to systemic inequalities in opportunities and wages.

What does the 'one-body model' refer to in social construction history?

An earlier understanding where male and female bodies were considered variations of a single human form, with women seen as lesser.

What does the 'two-body model' signify in Victorian thought?

A shift in the 18th century to conceptualizing men and women as fundamentally different, emphasizing distinct biological and social roles.

What was the Contagious Diseases Acts?

Legislation in Victorian England that enforced compulsory hospitalization and physical examinations of suspected sex workers, primarily women.

What was 'nymphomania' in the Victorian period?

A medical term used to describe excessive or pathological sexual desire in women, often pathologized as a mental illness.

What did 'sexual inversion' signify in Victorian discourse?

An early medico-psychological term used to describe homosexuality or gender non-conformity, implying a 'reversal' of typical sexual or gender roles.