Prostitution in the Victorian Era Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

Prostitution in the Victorian Era There were many prostitutes during the Victorian era. Most were proletarian wo hands, with the exception of the mistresses kept by upper-class men. According to Victorian standards, unspoiled women did not consider sexual intercourse pleasurable. It was their duty to be home(a) with their husbands. Having affairs was disgraceful (Waters). Prostitutes, on the other hand, were sexually intimate with men because they enjoyed sex. Men enjoyed prostitutes because they could not enjoy their wives. Victorian femininity was not defined by sexual pleasure, while Victorian masculinity was defined by sexual pleasure and conquest. Prostitutes did not necessarily enjoy their sexual encounters with men, as Victorians tended to believe. Prostitution was their survival. Lower-class women did not become prostitutes because they wanted to. They became prostitutes because they had no interchange choice for survival. There were few opti ons that allowed women to live off her own income kinda of her familys income, and once she e...