I was listening to a podcast recently where they talked about the status symbol of having a sickly wife in the Victorian era, for the upper classes, anyway. It was seen as underlining the husband's virility that he could be the sole support for his entire family (and presumably, staff/household), and it was conversely emasculating for a …
I was listening to a podcast recently where they talked about the status symbol of having a sickly wife in the Victorian era, for the upper classes, anyway. It was seen as underlining the husband's virility that he could be the sole support for his entire family (and presumably, staff/household), and it was conversely emasculating for a woman to be healthy and vital. It's so creepy to me to think that women's basic health is read as having anything at all to do with masculinity.
I was listening to a podcast recently where they talked about the status symbol of having a sickly wife in the Victorian era, for the upper classes, anyway. It was seen as underlining the husband's virility that he could be the sole support for his entire family (and presumably, staff/household), and it was conversely emasculating for a woman to be healthy and vital. It's so creepy to me to think that women's basic health is read as having anything at all to do with masculinity.