Gender in 19th century Britain

Kathryn Hughes explores the role of women in middle class Victorian society. Highlighting the conflicted and restrained behaviour expected of women between being learned but not too intelligent, beautiful but not sexual, Kathryn reveals the expectations on 19th-century women. She also explains how women such as Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning managed to challenge those expectations.
Explore more films, together with thousands of Victorian and Romantic literary treasures, at the British Library's Discovering Literature website - www.bl.uk/discovering-literature

[@butchdeadlift10]

Lesson for me: "Blue Stocking" is "Nerd girl" of the 19th century

[@doughoward6401]

Give me a blue stocking any day over a vapid vanity driven airhead 9nly interested in a bank account .

[@butchdeadlift10]

@Tom Bramald What grade?

[@frankm.2850]

Less nerd girl and more just fully realized human being.

[@jeffcampbell1555]

Had I been a Victorian girl, I would have become a bluestocking on purpose! Unfortunately, if I didn't marry, I'd have remained utterly dependent on parents, a brother, or an uncle for life. Spinsters were regarded as expensive burdens, and often treated poorly by loved ones. So sad, and such a waste of intellect and talent.

[@ahmadawad3325]

man up yo .. those women were highly educated with wealthy life or worker women .. they even got money(after a relevant dies ) and invested them .. or simply worked .. women are best suited in medical ,teaching , literature, art , clothes making and design ,house keepers , acting and singing .. and they work all that back then .. unless you are referring to anti men jobs such as cops soldiers politicians which they suck at as much as Angila miracle or Hillary .. or sex slaves jobs aka (Secretary ) .. or Kentucky operators which ironically if she leave it to jobless man he would be working and able to afford to marry her and form a family making her safe instead of her feeling unsafe thus obliged to work thus stealing another man job thus he can't afford marriage as he's unemployed .

[@Dan_The_Dude]

+Ahmad Awad I have no clue what you're trying to say. Your comment is one big run-on sentence with weird punctuation and misplaced words that I can only hope we're just very bad typos.

[@anonymousforever]

@@ahmadawad3325 go away you ignorant and misogynist idiot. Women can be who ever they want to be and be good at it and certainly don't need men like you to tell them what they can and cannot do. Women work to be independant, to develop themselves and to contribute to society in general just like men do. Not to keep 'themselves safe' as you put it. And as women are entirely equal to men, they have a right to fully participate in society and therefore no woman is 'taking jobs' away from men. Also for the record, your knowledge of western society in past times is appallingly ignorant! Women could not work any of those jobs you mentioned if they belonged to a higher class and very few jobs were open to lower class women. Go educate yourself before spouting nonsense on the internet and while you are at it, learn to write English better. Otherwise stay away from a language not your own if you are sub-standard at it.

[@anonymousforever]

@katie -_- what can you expect?! Islam was and is a backwards, woman-hating religion.

[@zaneplayz3719]

Face it We all came here because of our English teachers making us do homework on gender equality and inequality

[@cheezballz8146]

Nah.... I came here cause my history teacher is making me do homework on gender equality and inequality.

[@zaneplayz3719]

@@cheezballz8146 Close enough

[@oxhidoupsil]

Yes

[@musicstewart9744]

This is most interesting, especially since I'm now listening to "Orlando " by Virginia Wolfe

[@giovanninicoli1127]

i am italian and i don't understand very well english, so I need subtitles, add them pleaseeee

[@xtremelovin]

Just what I was looking for my Victorian Fiction class presentation. Thank you! This video is quite interesting.

[@Williamsmith_21]

Who is here doing history in lockdown Edit:wow people actually read my comment. Thx

[@carrotgarratley9749]

me lol we have too take notes

[@penumbraproductions7516]

@Matthew Norris Its for my AP World Hist.

[@peltz6791]

@Matthew Norris Oh my god same I'm doing it for English and Emily Bronte for some reason XD

[@matthewthomas-hughes6041]

@Matthew Norris this is my english too, we are learning about women rights and stuff like that. its a bit dead ngl

[@cupid4sara]

me im in the lesson rn >.

[@harrysully9987]

Should add time stamps for people still using this to revise

[@Lamaspucke]

Very interesting! I enjoy these kinds of videos a lot

[@freddiel3445]

no

[@darrendavies5704]

@@freddiel3445 yes. shut up

[@mothernature1021]

subtitles?

[@ABeautfulMess]

Wonderful

[@Poemsapennyeach]

Pithy and explanatory. Excellent.

[@emsmith3316]

I would have been the worst blue stocking ever. I'd pick political fights all the time with everyone, argue loudly, read all the time, not look for a husband and If I did I would let him know I was his equal. And I'd hate the dresses.

[@aliviamcdaniels7414]

Same sis! 😂😊lol

[@Gabriel-un5sn]

oh i bet u get em!

[@martijn3015]

It would certainly be interesting though. Although I have not had education how to be acting in this time so that would make it two of us then, who will not confirm 😅

[@frankm.2850]

And unfortunately you’d probably get tossed into an asylum. It was depressing, horrifically easy for a man to have his wife or daughter committed. Men may be fragile now, but at least we no longer let them commit women to a mental hospital for daring to be fully realized people.

[@MioHasMoe]

Lol I'm a blue stocking I guess

[@claudiacastillo1568]

SKIDADDLE LEEDOO blue stocking to

[@melissamelodies3729]

Very insightful

[@Rinouliniable]

Quite informative, thank you.

[@name_not_important7757]

Y u acting like u Shakespeare

[@prod.chxrry6354]

@@name_not_important7757 😭

[@claudiabenedito2928]

This is cool. Thank you

[@feezlfuzzl564]

Has she ever worn a crinoline? There are several KZbinrs who have/do, and they show how flexible they really were. (Prior Attire, Bernadette Banner, etc.) Karolina Zabrowski even got an authentic one, and just bent it back into shape easily. No, you wouldn't scrub the floors in them, but they weren't exactly "literal cages to keep women in their place" either.

[@ilya8132]

How would flexibility help in the cases she described? In the example of sitting on a train, were passengers supposed to deal with one person taking three seats or being squished up against another person's closing? Would you imagine pushing yourself through doorways to be proper during this time period?

[@feezlfuzzl564]

@@ilya8132 They had special traveling suits, so maybe they didn't wear them on trains. Crinolines were popular in the 1850's-1860's, so there may not have been as many railroads, either. As for doorways, what's the big deal with pushing yourself through, if you have to?

[@Biociety]

So interesting to know how women's life and education back in the 19th century

[@taeaddict2881]

It's relieving how much the stereotypes changed from then to now.

[@carlysheree3130]

I like the traditional stereotype

[@sunwoop]

Nice

[@MissSladousek]

I reckon after knowing this most of females would be Elizabeth Barrett if brought into that era LOL

[@careesimo]

Nancy from Oliver Twist anyone?

[@legitmelon2512]

i have to watch this for a 11 page home work that we have 5 days to do, like wtf

[@prasansha]

did u finish?

[@chater468]

@@prasansha that's the real question tbh

[@soundtracknerd8801]

@@chater468 We'll never know, but I'm currently cramming an English rough draft (about *Pride and Prejudice*) due by 4/23 11:59PM CST (gave it to us 4/18), and it's got a 6-page minimum (10 page max) with a specific page amount for specific subjects. And I started it at like 12PM that exact day. Haha... jesus, group project due the week after in my other class got me f'd...

[@hailie8187]

I’m just here for my English essay 🧍‍♀️

[@WingMcCann]

This is a very informative video but why are there so many shots of the chest of the woman who's speaking?

[@yesplease6399]

I'd just hope to have a mum like Enola Holmes mother in these times.

[@darrendavies5704]

Watching this for online learning

[@kings6574]

HI leo

[@ilya8132]

I love looking back to feminism in previous centuries. To see how extreme it was helps me understand the level it's at now, in both the ways I experience and see it. Even reading comments below which claim this lifestyle to be "best" gives perfect example of how long it takes for human ideals to truly evolve. The excuse "it was *this many* years ago" always fell flat for me. Human change takes time and there will always be plenty of people who want to hold on.

[@crazymaniac1396]

They're lives we're just as good as yours probably even better

[@nicolemedina8072]

Enola Holmes... great movie

[@mergingkibbles]

If you are here from Bremen high school I’m sorry

[@ReaperD6]

Anyone else got a history exam soon?

[@name_not_important7757]

Im dumb af

[@borgesvania5798]

Olá Terry, como vai você? Antes de mais nada, parabéns pelo canal. Não falo inglês, mas tento me "acudir". Bom, virando a noite fazendo uma pesquisa de músicas nordestinas e forró, fui levada ao canal de Rita Ribeiro. Sou a compositora da música "Há mulheres". A gente se conheceu? Pergunto, pois, tenho um amigo casado com uma inglesa, mas, não me lembro o nome dela agora. De qualquer forma, lhe escrevo para agradecer imensamente por seus comentários em defesa dos direitos autorais. Boa sorte toda vida! abraços.

[@denizakbal8923]

Yh what

[@lynnejohnson2099]

Not what I expected based on the title.

[@richiebellerby1465]

Mrs humphries anyone

[@richiebellerby1465]

@UCREUNqbubaLr_mfemgbqxrw is that beastly Johnson over here

[@sunwoop]

Watching this for online English studies :(

[@kevindelatorre2519]

for 2

[@name_not_important7757]

Ahhh😜they would kill me, im like freaking weird

[@khobzabatata7100]

ok👍🏽

[@otk._rob]

LOL

[@anunashamedwhitemale7660]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤

[@athosnogueira6755]

Based times

[@hs4619]

Who else is here for English (And hobby history)

[@kevindelatorre2519]

me lol

[@atlanteum]

screenplay research

[@Cam.Rubstein]

POV:your here from your history lesson

[@seastorm9548]

Marriage was not about love back then it was about climbing up the social ladder, obtaining wealth for the family and producing heirs to inherit the land. Women had it especially hard if they were stuck with a husband they didn't like because divorce was almost impossible. If I were born during that time I would never get married

[@cherryblossom5239]

Am I the only one who has difficulties understanding her correctly? I usually understand the British accent but she seems to have difficulties articulating.

[@tobitoes1052]

Cherry blossom That's just what posh people sound like when you put them on the spot without a script

[@daleefren]

Yo que no hablo inglés como lengua materna es más difícil todavía

[@mrhook2859]

The good old day's. Britain did look well.

[@vacaspen5038]

dont be smart enough to re cognize his nonsense, or ignorance, orbpossibilites outside what he wants to provide

[@jackychun1552]

whos here for history lesson

[@juliettezea9507]

I’m worried I’ll be a spinster

[@aliviamcdaniels7414]

Don’t worry about being a spinster and don’t worry about what other people think of you. Life the life you want!❤😊

[@juliettezea9507]

@@aliviamcdaniels7414 thanks

[@FurryAminal]

Casual dress means casual attitude means social collapse into "me me me" self-indulgence. Victorians were not faultless (I'm sick of having to say that - we all know it but some wag will whine if we don't spell it out) but they understood the necessity of discipline. They also recognised that beauty is not the same thing as 'sexy'; the latter being about appetite, which is disruptive and self-indulgent, rather than about grace. As for learning, the emphasis was on becoming educated rather than on becoming a dry professional (which men had to do by necessity, someone had to, and which it was pointless for women to do also, as it defeminised them - and no healthy man is attracted to another who is masculine as its both sexually misguided and a recipe for constant argument). Maybe if people took their head out of radical bias for a while they might remember these things.

[@eveningdim7167]

Perhaps if you got out of radical bias, you'd be able to see your own bias.

[@monmothma3358]

Wow. The attitudes still exist..

[@anonymousforever]

+FurryAnimal another far-right moron moaning about the 'state of the times'. If you are a man, then you are a misogynist, ignorant pig to believe that education 'defeminises' women! Education makes a whole person whether they are male or female. You definately need some more education.

[@hotgrilulove8285]

poggerz

[@mistyblue1882]

Y9 history homework 😩😝

[@ghostlylover99123]

A time when it was fact that there is only two genders

[@lalamarshie94]

Still is fact.

[@rachelhorwitz9086]

Please read a science book. 🤦‍♀️

[@carlysheree3130]

Rachel Horwitz yes can you please read a real science book

[@ametrineambrosia4929]

Haha, me too. Even in this day and age, men are surprised by a highly sexed and expansively intellectual woman like my self, as the twain are not seen as inclusive. Now if I were to go back then, that combination in a physical package, that while is not flawless (I am scarred) meets the Victorian physical ideal, and is very feminine at once.. well, well...how interesting!

[@epfizerdoolittleajl2165]

Are you american?

[@ametrineambrosia4929]

ava lawrence why the question?

[@epfizerdoolittleajl2165]

Prion Indigo you know, I can't even remember

[@rael6974]

Highly sexed? You think that’s an attractive quality? 👀👀👀

[@jesseward568]

Ra El isnt it? Come on. It is. I love the ego on this one

[@theblizardblitz2396]

Bruh

[@edieredding1179]

Why TF do i have to whatch this for my english homework 😑😑😑😑

[@pepittow3222]

I'm non binnary I'm a tree

[@lalamarshie94]

Me too! I'm a bed

[@beckyhambly1061]

hey everyone that’s here from homework lmao

[@corruptedsk1224]

ayo if ur from boys grammar and are reading this hiiii

[@corruptedsk1224]

@Caqtch took ur time

[@komandopatrick8540]

Qui est là pour son devoir d'Euro?

[@jonvalberg3694]

ég er í ensku í fmos fml

[@name_not_important7757]

Freaking 9 year olds marring 70 year olds

[@leylared5910]

The foolishness my teacher makes us watch kmt!!!

[@corentinmarc5243]

Bonjour Noa le roux

[@aliyaharowolo9060]

19th century spat lies 💮

[@copilote420]

C’est relou un peu

[@shandan6158]

G vu mieu javou

[@sensei121]

When men were men….and women were grateful….

[@rael6974]

This needs to be brought back

[@anonymousforever]

+Ra El and you need your balls removed

[@jennybeanSMC]

Damn some of the comments are so dumb on here I'm actually finding them entertaining.

[@otk._rob]

Black Lives MAtter

[@charlieburgess7074]

To be honest I couldn’t care less

[@Uk.content]

Same

[@diana2656]

LMFAOOO INNIT, BRO IM HERE CUS OF HISTORY HW 😔

[@arnsteinngestsson4363]

Lame!!