It is no secret that women's sexuality was a taboo topic in the late 19th Century. There was a time where women were expected to be meek, soft, and obedient housewives with good morals but, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum the Victorian era was also beginning to open women’s opportunities in the public and their occupational lives.¹
There were many problems in the Victorian era involving sex. Kathryn Hughes writes that prostitution was at an all-time high, with young women getting married later in their lives due to pursuing an education/possibly a career. Men at the time would stay single longer, therefore feel the need to hire a woman for sex. This caused an outbreak of syphilis, even many wives unknowingly contracted it from their husbands. Many even had a slow and agonizing death due to the untreated syphilis they contracted (possibly 10 to 20 years prior).² It’s hard to imagine any other outcome to a vastly sexual culture that refuses to speak of their nature. You can’t be educated on a topic that’s never spoken of, which could be why sex caused so many issues for the people of the Victorian era, especially women.
Bram Stroker himself hints at the growing syphilis/sex problem of this time. Lucy, a character in Stroker's Dracula, goes through multiple blood transfusions in the story. This may seem like a normal procedure on the outside, but it could possibly symbolize so much more. All of Lucy‘s blood donors were men and the procedure was talked about in a very hushed and secretive manner. Right before Lucy died her fiancé Holmwood says goodbye, but is only allowed to kiss her on the forehead (because they are not yet married).³ These scenes put immense anxiety and pressure on Lucy’s character physically and mentally. Women of this time might have been feeling the same way, in such an overly yet subtly sexualized culture a woman’s sexual identity must’ve been confusing.
Overall 19th Century attitude toward feminine sexuality is bias (favoring men) and ashamed of the topic. While many Artists and Writers of the time (like Stroker) seem to want to want to talk about the subject, they know the unspoken rule is not to. The social constraint on these Artists/Writers forced them to go about a woman's sexual nature through symbolism. Men's sexuality is at an all-time high through this age, yet women are degraded and looked down on if they showed any sign of promiscuity.
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It's interesting how women's bodies were viewed and how a woman pursuing and education/ career in that era was viewed. Also interesting how the blame for the syphilis outbreak seems to have been put onto the woman's shoulders because they were too busy trying to make a better life for themselves in terms of an education/ career and less concerned with being a housewife.
ReplyDeleteWould you say that prostitution was demanded because men deemed their own education more important than a women's value?
DeleteIt's also important to note that simply educating the population about safe sex practices could have prevented the outbreaks of STIs, but people would refuse because it was impolite to talk about sex.
I really loved the way you incorporated "Dracula" into this. Referring to your comment under the post above mine to someone else, I couldn't help but wonder why sex was so taboo to talk about in the first place. It seems so ridiculous when you consider it, you would think people would be more mature and understanding of anatomy, but apparently not. This was such an interesting topic to read about, and I truly had no idea how popular prostitution was at the time, or that syphilis was the specific STD. I wonder if women came across other issues, like herpes, etc?
ReplyDelete