Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
History
Date of Award
12-2016
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Dr. John Rankin
Committee Members
Dr. Jennifer Adler, Dr. Stephen Fritz
Abstract
This research argues that with the rise of the middle-class, Victorian England saw the development of a power model in which middle-class men, middle-class women and disenfranchised bodies of children and lower-class women suffered from the demands of bodily domination. Because the bodily health of middle-class men was believed to represent national health, it was imperative that he dominate his body, particularly with regard to sexual urges. Consequently, the bodies of women with whom he sought sexual release suffered from forms of bodily domination as well. Through an analysis of journals and private writings of those living in Victorian England, magazines, books, and advisory texts published during the nineteenth century, and philosophical interpretations of Victorian sexuality by historians, an image emerges in which Victorian sexuality is categorized by the need to dominate the body.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Barnett, Ashley, "Prudery and Perversion: Domination of the Sexual Body in Middle-Class Men, Women, and Disenfranchised Bodies in Victorian England" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3172. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3172
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Social History Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons