women in the late-19 th century

Women in the Late-19th Century

Women Social Disabilities

• Couldn’t own property• Could not have separate bank accounts• Could not save money• Could not take job w/o husband

permission• Had few legal rights

Married Women’s Property Act

• Passed in Britain, allowed for women to own property in their own name.

Divorce• Illegal in most European countries.• Adultery was the most common reason

for divorce but it had to be proven.

Parental Rights

• In nearly all cases of divorce, child custody was awarded to the father.

Birth Control

• In most European countries, any form of contraception or abortion was illegal.

Education

• Few European countries allowed women to attend secondary schools or universities.

• An educated woman would affect the traditional gender roles.

The Job Front• Late 19th century

saw a decline in female laborers as men’s wages increased.

• Women continued to receive low wages for their work.

The Putting Out System

• Huge manufacturers would make cloth.• This cloth would then get shipped to

tailors, sweatshops, and homes.• Few factories actually made clothes.

Prostitution• Involved 1000’s of young women in

major cities.• Sought this line of work due to an

overcrowded female work force.• Most were found in major military cities.

Factual Information

• Very few child prostitutes existed, although the press at the time sensationalized stories about them.

• Nearly all were between the ages of 18-25.

• Nearly all were not forced into that line of work.

Middle Class Women

• No longer helped with finances.

• Their job was to take care of the domestic duties, be involved in the Church, and display acts of charity.

Middle Class Women

• Despite illegalities, contraception methods were used.

• M.C. women desired smaller families.

Feminism Supporters• Mary Wollstonecraft• J.S. Mill• Harriet Taylor

Millicent Fawcett

• Led the Union of Women Suffrage Societies in London.

Emmeline Pankhurst

• Radical feminist• Used violence, arson,

and other criminal activity (suffragettes).

Women Suffrage

• The 1st country to allow women the right to vote was Norway in 1907.

• Britain- after WWI, 30 and over allowed.• France did not allow women to vote until

after WWII.