A poorly written anti-Victorian Blog: "The Truth About Victoriana". I am sure one could find a lot nasty things to write about from such peroid, but this blog does not even do a very good job. I don't why see why she brings up 1950's American in comparison, that is one period I find nothing to be nostalgic about, but I could be nostalgic for the 1850's. People are flawed creatures but at least in the past morality and godliness were the ideals of the general culture. This Cindy woman is a very nasty and hateful person, who also runs a number of other very hateful sites. This "Feminist" does not like the Victorian Era, but I have heard some Conservative Christians attack the Victorian era as being matriarchal and anti-male. I take a generally positive and nostalgic of view Victorian Era for the most part, but never claimed everything was perfect. Is the modern world free of immorality, disease, prostitution, crime and cruelty?
An example of her lack of knowledge; "Victorian Boys Wore Dresses and Had Long Hair." I am not sure what the point of this post is supposed to be anyway. This blog seems to have little understanding of the subjects it covers, the reason why little boys wore skirts was mainly a matter of hygiene. Boys didn't wear trousers till they out of diapers and keeping themselves clean without their mother's help. Some Mennonites, such as the Amish, still follow such practice. "Breeching was the occasion when a small boy was first dressed in breeches or trousers. From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight... The main reason for keeping boys in dresses was toilet training, or the lack of it. Dresses were also easier to make with room for future growth, in an age when clothes were much more expensive than now for all classes. The 'age of reason' was generally considered to be about seven, and breeching corresponded roughly with that age for much of the period."
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You will enjoy this witty summary of the modernist view of the Victorian era http://thepleasanttimes.blogspot.com/p/www.html --we are evidently not allowed to admire anything of the period because the people of that time were so oppressed, suppressed, compressed, and everything else that is bad, especially the women.
ReplyDeleteIf they do not like the Victorians, they do not like their own ancestors, for every one of us is related to one of them.
ReplyDeleteIf they despise the Victorian era, they despise the Emancipation Proclamation, the sewing machine, the typewriter, modern plumbing, electric wiring inside the house, photography, the movies, modern hospitals, care of the handicapped (the modern wheelchair comes from the more basic Victorian invention), the elevator, the motor car, the bicycle, welfare(the Victorians created the first welfare program intended for the care of orphans in a government institution), the factories where clothing and goods are quickly created (the Victorians were the first to send women to work in factories), the beginnings of the invention of the airplane, the care of widows of war,with government pensions and old folks home especially for soldiers, modern sanitation and sewer works, and much more.
If they despise the Victorians, they despise the very life they live, for many of them look daily at Victorian homes from the era, Victorian city streets all laid out by their forefathers, and planned towns where they may now live.
The Victorians left us architecture, gardens, parks---don't forget, some of the presidents of the era set aside thousands of acres of land just for national parks--land that can not be touched by developers to this day.
Victorians also watched manners and objected strongly to things like spitting in public, family men spending their paycheck on drinking and leaving their loved ones poor (the first women's movement was actually based on protesting that fact--see the movie "The Electric Edwardians, and you'll see an actual march with a sign held by women saying "Destroy the drink" or something like that).
The Victorians were keenly aware of the things that would destroy the family and were very socially conscious and outspoken about it.
If people hate the Victorians, they hate the music, art, poetry, literature, architecture --which we still enjoy today--and the gracious art of having tea at home.
Victorians, rich or poor, were not wicked evil people on the whole, although there were some bad ones in the mix: Darwin, Dewey, Marx, Margaret Sanger (born in the Victorian era, she promoted abortion and targeted non-whites to eliminate them)--and many Communist (socialist) leaders of the time.
The big hatred of the Victorians is actually something quite different: fathers and husbands in their place, and strong families, with women in charge of the household and guiding the homelife as a major role in their lives rather than a drive-by effort as it is today with working women.
There are many things that these Victorian-haters touch daily that come from the Victorian period (the telephone? Braille for the blind and signing for the deaf, --even the pump that brings up the water to their sinks--and yes, the shower)...and do not forget that every single one of them had a great grandparent or gg grandparent who lived during that period. How do you think that generation would have felt if they had known their descendents would despise them so much?
I do not believe it is right to despise the era, and yet, so many will exalt other eras, such as the dark ages, the gothic, and the Shakespearean era--(when women were not allowed to act in a play and when men were supposed to dress like women to play the part)--they think those eras are wonderful? Women were treated worse in those times! The Victorian women were strong and full of resourcefulness. Many of them embarked on long journeys to help settle new territories. I shudder to see how the modern Victorian-hater would manage if they had to do that today. They should admire the Victorians, not despise them. Look at the houses today--neglected, broken down places where people just sack out and drink beer while they watch sports, and let the lawns go to seed and the paint chip off the outside of the house. Is this better than the Victorian sense of order and loveliness?