Ignorance or Ideals: The Navigation of Women's Roles and Values During the 19th Century

      A new series emerged during the Victorian era that brought possibility and promise. The Englishwomen’s Domestic Magazine published several volumes that offered advice columns, humorous commentary, and a combination of instruction and implication of domestic ideals for women. The magazine itself was also a relatively inexpensive purchase, making it accessible for many, as the middle-class emerges. 

    One of the more prominent aspects of the magazine focused on fashion and the role it played. The magazine offers specific guidelines that are recommended to be followed by all women. Should women not choose to oblige, it would be seen as disdainful, attempting to go against the grain of female responsibilities was not valued. The humor inserted throughout captures the reader’s attention and provokes questions about the deeper meaning behind it. Specifically, the column, “How to Get a Husband” speaks to the female audience and offers advice and “practical” recommendations to follow, suggesting that if all women follow these guidelines, the patriarchal society will continue to “thrive”. Thriving, however, is not the goal if it is solely focused on masculine power. This periodical brings hope for women in some ways, but also requires reading to be happy and virtuous as a wife and mother in family households (preface). The double standard poses questions of morality and the link, if any, between desire and indifference. 

     Throughout the text, there are illustrations and aligning articles focusing on sewing. How to sew clothes, the proper way to sew them, when to wear such clothing and where. However, the language used represents something bigger than a needle and thread. Perhaps the instructions for sewing and other fashion choices follow a similar pattern, one that “is very elaborate and beautiful…will be exhibited to perfection” (p. 16) This pattern, which refers to a crochet design, might be offering a new interpretation of the idea of a pattern. Patterns are a uniformed mold, something that is to be repeated over and over, something that is perceived as “perfect” but might contain minuscule flaws within if looked at close enough. In some ways, this idea could be about women being observed by the patriarchal society under a microscope. Perhaps the use of pattern in this magazine is to say that women are to follow a certain pattern in daily life to succeed or survive. If this is plausible, and patterns are indeed beautiful and visually captivating, then the deeper meaning lies within the question of whether or not women have more to offer than their beauty in this era dominated by masculine power. 

      The Englishwomen’s Domestic Magazine explicitly offers language that shows the representation of women and men’s roles in relationships with each other, as well as individually. It highlights the lack of power women hold in subtle ways, calling question upon these domestic values that are expected of them. Much of the piece uses a negative tone, where there is clearly a right and wrong way to do something. This pertains to both women and men, however, the highest standards included are those that women are expected to maintain. While the advice and fashion commentary are exciting, especially when written in a piece aimed for female eyes, the underlying truths behind the domestic household wife remain present. The ignorance here is patriarchal. The ideals are that of the domestic nature that continually epitomizes what a woman is, without leaving room for who she might become if given the chance.