Victorian London's Middle-Class Housewife What She Did All Day

Subjects:

• History » European History -- Early Modern/Renaissance
• Sociology » Sex & Gender Studies
• Women's Studies » Women's Studies (General)

Reviews:

• ...accomplishes what it sets out to do: describe and assess what Victorian London's Middle-Class Married Woman..."did all day." Perhaps most interestingly, Draznin goes on to argue that her subject's activities had broad implications for the larger society...she has provided a solid foundation from which to explore such matters further.
  —Albion Spring 2002
• ...fascinating reading....will be of interest to gender historians and general readers with an interest in the minutiae of the Victorian age. Anyone who doubts the achievements of feminism has only to read this book to realise how far women's lives have changed for the better over the past hundred years.
  —The Times Higher Education Supplement September 7 2001
• While researching pioneering nineteenth-century feminists, Yaffa Claire Draznin realized that she was in fact more interested in the `unobtrusive lives' of surburban London housewives. In Victorian London's Middle-Class Housewife: What She Did All Day, she seeks to re-create the fabric of these lives--what schooling they had, what their husbands did, what size their houses were, and what kind of clutter those houses contained (stuffed birds, wax flowers, and photograph albums were favorites). Draznin finds that housewives served as financial managers of the household and employers of servants, which gave them significant social clout. As a result, their tastes and priorities--they were keen on labor-saving devices and luxury items--helped shape consumerism as we know it today.
  —The New Yorker
• [D]raznin offers many examples and ideas that are excellent food for thought....This is a good book to read for a background of modern scholarship on the Victorian times, and on the contemporary views of historical women....[T]his book demands to be read and considered by all Modern Victorians.
  —The Victorian and Edwardian Ladies League

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• The MCMW's Background: 1850-1875
• Growing Up Female in Mid-century England
• Greater London in 1875: A Resident's View
• The MCMW's Spouse and the Couple's First Home
• The Matron's Appearance: Her Looks and Her Clothing
• The Reality: Life in Greater London, 1875-1900
• The Housewife as Lowly Domestic: Cleaning the House and Doing the Laundry
• The Housewife as Specialized Domestic: Preparing the Meals and Clothing the Family
• The Housewife as Employer: Managing the Servants
• The Housewife as Financial Manager: Balancing the Budget
• The Matron in Her Maternal Role: As Bride, Potential Mother, and Pregnant Wife
• The Matron as Guardian of the Family's Health
• The Matron as Nurturer of the Children: Early Child Care and Education
• The Matron as Social Secretary and Activities Coordinator
• The Matron as Morals Arbiter: Managing Family Religious and Charitable Obligations
• The Matron as Her Own Person: Satisfying Personal Needs Within and Outside the Home
• The Middle-class Housewife as Shopper: The Emergence of Late 19th-century "Consumerism"
• The End of the Century: Conclusion
• London in 1900: A World City Reluctant to Change
• The Middle-class Housewife in 1900: Inadvertent Agent for Change
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index