The 19th century saw the beginnings of a shift in outlook towards gender, as roles for women in public and professional life widened. However, at the same time, prostitution, illegitimacy and same-sex relationships were increasingly stigmatised.
Introduction to Gender & Sexuality in Victorian England
The Victorian period saw the beginnings of a shift in social philosophy regarding legal and customary gender relations. This shift was marked by a move away from the patria…
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Gender Ideology & Separate Spheres in the 19th Century
'The principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes - the legal subordination of one sex to the other - is wrong in itself and now one of the…
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Health & Medicine in the 19th Century
Early Victorian ideas of human physiology involved a clear understanding of anatomy (at least among experts; but the populace often had hazy knowledge of the location and r…
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Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century
Male anxieties in relation to both physical and mental health in the Victorian era often seem to have concentrated on the supposedly baleful effects of masturbation, which …
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'The Personal is Political': Gender in Private & Public Life in the 19th Century
Female skills were also in demand outside the home. Throughout the Victorian period, when family needs allowed, women undertook unpaid work in a variety of fields, known co…
Read articleA gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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Traditional Jewellery: In Nineteenth-Century Europe (Hardback)

Although less well-known today, European jewellery - jewellery worn with traditional or national costume - was highly fashionable in nineteenth-centur…
Buy nowEvent - Closer Look Architecture talk: John Buonarotti Papworth: "any job, any style, any client"
Tue 23 July 2013 13:00

FREE TALK: Hailed as a second Michelangelo by his friends, J.B. Papworth was an architect of incredible versatility.
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