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A review by catsobvi
Inventing the Victorians: What We Think We Know About Them and Why We're Wrong by Matthew Sweet
3.0
This was an enjoyable and insightful book. The author’s main point is that the Victorian stereotype of the stuffy, prudish, repressed society is inaccurate. They were more like us than we think, and they may even have been more open about some things than we are now. They were the beginning of our contemporary ideas on all manner of topics. The author himself says that there is so much information from the period it would be easy to make whatever case for the Victorians that you wanted. But I think this just shows that the Victorian society was more varied and difficult to categorize, as any society peopled by diverse personalities would be.
There was a lot of fun, anecdotal evidence given throughout and covering a wide range of topics. The Victorians loved sensationalism, sex and scandals. And, contrary to popular belief, they did not seek these things in secret, hiding away from the light of day in which they maintained their prudish and repressed façade. Their sexuality was more fluid and less defined than it is today. Pornography was one of the most lucrative businesses of the time. They were the initiators of junk mail, commercial tie-ins for books and other entertainment, publicity stunts and other intense marketing schemes. Their seemingly-uptight and complex etiquette may have actually had common sense behind it.
An idea he brings up is not judging previous periods by today’s standards. Things we may now consider horrible were not necessarily thought of in a negative way and were often considered normal. We can see this in the Victorian view of children. They created an ideal of childhood innocence but they also sexualized children. We judge the Victorian’s harshly for this, yet we perpetuate both of these views today. Anti-pedophile campaigns v. teenage pop stars prancing around in something akin to underwear. We also view the Victorian fascination with freak shows as monstrous and cruel, yet the author shows how this lifestyle could be immensely lucrative and freeing for those who may have few other options. They were celebrities and had more control over their lives than we see in the modern stereotype of the poor victims locked up and mistreated. Of course, the reality of any morally ambiguous situation is difficult to pin down and will make most people uncomfortable, especially since morality tends to be viewed as absolute, not fluid.
He also makes a case against the concept of ‘separate spheres’, claiming that the domestic and professional worlds were far more complex than this. Women worked in the home and outside while men helped with house work. The Victorian concept of masculinity and what was proper conduct for a man was rife with contradictions, leading to a lack of consensus on the subject. Women had more power and men were less confident in their power than the one-dimensional stereotypes will allow.
Overall, this is an entertaining intro to the Victorians.
There was a lot of fun, anecdotal evidence given throughout and covering a wide range of topics. The Victorians loved sensationalism, sex and scandals. And, contrary to popular belief, they did not seek these things in secret, hiding away from the light of day in which they maintained their prudish and repressed façade. Their sexuality was more fluid and less defined than it is today. Pornography was one of the most lucrative businesses of the time. They were the initiators of junk mail, commercial tie-ins for books and other entertainment, publicity stunts and other intense marketing schemes. Their seemingly-uptight and complex etiquette may have actually had common sense behind it.
An idea he brings up is not judging previous periods by today’s standards. Things we may now consider horrible were not necessarily thought of in a negative way and were often considered normal. We can see this in the Victorian view of children. They created an ideal of childhood innocence but they also sexualized children. We judge the Victorian’s harshly for this, yet we perpetuate both of these views today. Anti-pedophile campaigns v. teenage pop stars prancing around in something akin to underwear. We also view the Victorian fascination with freak shows as monstrous and cruel, yet the author shows how this lifestyle could be immensely lucrative and freeing for those who may have few other options. They were celebrities and had more control over their lives than we see in the modern stereotype of the poor victims locked up and mistreated. Of course, the reality of any morally ambiguous situation is difficult to pin down and will make most people uncomfortable, especially since morality tends to be viewed as absolute, not fluid.
He also makes a case against the concept of ‘separate spheres’, claiming that the domestic and professional worlds were far more complex than this. Women worked in the home and outside while men helped with house work. The Victorian concept of masculinity and what was proper conduct for a man was rife with contradictions, leading to a lack of consensus on the subject. Women had more power and men were less confident in their power than the one-dimensional stereotypes will allow.
Overall, this is an entertaining intro to the Victorians.