Women Were Expected To Procreate Regularly; Sex Was Publicly Discouraged
Source: Wikimedia Commons
In the Victorian era, motherhood was often thought to be the highest purpose a woman could fulfill. In marriage, for example, women were required to produce heirs — but sexual intercourse for any other reason than to induce pregnancy was considered immoral.
Victorians believed that men were naturally preoccupied with sex, but that it was the wife’s job to prevent sexual activity. Women were supposed to be guided by their maternal instincts, not their sexual desires.
To this end, the book Sex Tips for Husbands and Wives, published in 1894, illuminated some guiding principles to help married couples manage their sex lives.
The author, Ruth Smythers, advised that wives should, “Give little, give seldom and above all give grudgingly. Otherwise what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.”
Symthers herself found passion between a husband and wife abhorrent as well. She instructed women to “turn her head slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead” if their husbands try to kiss them on the mouth, and to “never allow her husband to see her unclothed body.”
Fear of women’s sexuality sometimes took a sinister turn: Doctors would perform a “clitoridectomy” on women who had epilepsy or showed signs of insanity and hysteria. Doctors believed the procedure would cure the diseases because it relieved women of sexual desire.
