1) Quoting John Ruskin on the topic of women is not a good idea.
2) The whole image of Victorian prudery is largely a fabrication. The Victorians liked sex quite a lot. And clearly many women had the ability to forge their own path, if they decided to. There are a lot of misconceptions about that period, but this researcher seems to be more surprised than he ought to be, in my opinion.
No, they didn't. In fact, that's why they all became extinct.
Regards,
Actually, women AND men were more reserved, lending in the Victorian Era to a seeming prudishness.
And for good reason.
TUBERCULOSIS.
High quality studies have taken place by PhD candidates in Nursing over the past few decades investigating life before penicillin. The purpose was compelled by a concern that bacterial mutations were advancing faster than antibiotic drug development to combat them.
Hence, how did people cope before antibiotics? And studies pursued a review of the Victorian Era which was much more readily available to researchers.
The findings made sense of Victorian habits. Here are a few examples:
1. Gloves, long soft, tightly woven.
2. Handkerchiefs and veils.
3. Long dresses.
4. Close collars.
5. Coughing away and into a napkin.
6. Distancing; no close encounters.
7. Long table cloths This custom mimicked human clothing habits and provided backup to human incidents of wearing less than appropriate clothing.
8. Hygiene in general, cleanliness and sharpness of clothing.
9. Table manners.
There were dozens more findings traced to concern for pneumonia and tuberculosis.
It reminds some of Covid today but much much more dangerous in pre-penicillin times. Covid is nothing compared to what these people experienced. Covid is 99% survivable. Tuberculosis was a death sentence like cancer.
“Quoting John Ruskin on the topic of women is not a good idea.”
No kidding!