The mention of the Victorian era immediately conjures up images of women in fluffy dresses hiding their bodies under layers of clothing. The people of 19th-century England are often considered prudish and stuffy, but were they? The answer is not a simple one, but it is an interesting one. In some ways, they were just like us; in others, we’ve come a long way in viewing sex.
Oh, the Smell
Victorian people were many things, but hygienic was not one of them. The hygiene etiquette that is commonplace now was largely hit or miss back then. In fact, if you were to bathe every day, you would be considered borderline obsessive. The idea that Victorians were prudes primarily grew from their fashion sense, which was actually a way to deal with body odor created by this lack of hygiene. The idea was that these layers of clothes would help contain one’s odor to themselves, but adding extra layers to stop one from smelling doesn’t make a lot of sense.
No Homosexuality or Masturbation
Relationships between men were expressly forbidden and even punishable by death, though hard time was often the sentence handed down. Interestingly enough, homosexuality was only thought of as a male act, and the thought of women being in a relationship was so unfathomable that many lesbian couples lived openly in the city without question.
Masturbation wasn’t legally punishable, but it was morally shunned in the Victorian age – again, this was mainly for men. It was such socially unacceptable behavior that an entire industry was born when John Kellogg created Corn Flakes to make a food that would curb the urge to masturbate. Breakfast cereal wasn’t the only invention meant to stop men from going it alone; there were several Victorian-era devices intended to prevent men from even getting an erection in the first place. On the other hand, women were encouraged to masturbate, and many masturbatory devices were created in the same time frame because they were thought to cure female psychosis and other illnesses believed to be brought on by sexual desires.
Make Sure You’re Fully Dressed Unless You’re at the Beach
It was customary to wear layers in the company of a lady unless you were swimming, of course. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that the Victorians began wearing “bathing drawers” when they went to the beach, and even then, they were thought of as obnoxiously high-fashioned. The same people who wore layers upon layers of clothes and got dressed behind screens had no problem giving their neighbor’s husband a little peep show as long as they were near a large body of water.
Women Were the Gatekeepers, but They Were Supposed to Be Bad at It
A woman’s role in marriage was a confusing one at best. Sex was openly looked down upon, but it was also the only way to create more little Victorians, creating quite a conundrum. Victorian thought was that men were sex-driven maniacs unable to control their urges, and it fell on the wife to be the goalkeeper of her lady parts. In an unfair Catch-22, women’s worth was tied to child-rearing, and they were expected to pump out babies regularly. So, basically, they were supposed to control their husband’s urges but still let him in every once in a while to keep the babies coming.
Prostitution Was Big Business Even Though Sex Was a Lot More Dangerous Back Then
For a society that looked down on sex as much as they did, there was a lot of prostitution going on. It is estimated that nearly 9,000 prostitutes were working in London alone in 1857, which begs the question of who was paying to keep that many prostitutes in business. What is more peculiar than the fact that prostitution was a major profession in an era when sex was so socially unacceptable is how rampant it was during a time of uncontrolled syphilis. Condoms had been invented, but they were not as widely used as they are today. Plus, treatment for syphilis was still decades away from being discovered, leaving the illness to ravage those taking part in some unsafe practices in the dead of night.
Pornography Was a No-No – Or Was It?
Like everything in those days, people decried the evils of pornography and then immediately went to the seediest corners of town to get some of their own. Pornography was openly sold in bookstores until the Obscene Publications act of 1857 made it illegal. But, if history has taught us anything, banning things only makes them more valuable, and a rich underground porn market blossomed. Not only did people not stop buying and selling printed porn, but the minute motion pictures were invented in the late 1800s, people immediately started making porn videos.
Oh, How Far We’ve Come
In many ways, nothing has changed since those prudes in the 1800s. Many people are still uncomfortable discussing sex in the open, even though we all do it. Thankfully, some of their behaviors have been left in the past, while others, like the whole nude beach thing, are something that many of us would like to bring back. Learning about the history of sex can give us insight into our feelings on the subject and how far society has come in a relatively short time. Although they went about it in the most roundabout way, the people of the Victorian era knew what we all know: that sex is fun and should be enjoyed by all as frequently as possible.
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