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Abstract

This dissertation examines the causations and results of the changing attitudes to sex and sexuality on poor mothers in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The changing knowledge of female and male reproductive organs meant that females and especially mothers became desexualised, which significantly impacted their lives. This dissertation will argue that the increased virtuous image of women within the eighteenth century had both negative and positive impacts on the lives of poor mothers. Women became further domesticated and sexually exploited but, they could also use this image to display themselves as vulnerable, acquiring them additional support. Most importantly, this dissertation will argue that the eighteenth century became a period where women’s gender norms became increasingly defined due to shifting sexual knowledge. The first research section looks at the historiography surrounding the topic, the second looks at primary sources that produced public anxieties surrounding the sex and sexuality of women, and the third is a case study of the London Foundling Hospital, which shows the increased sexual exploitation of women by men and how mothers could use their increased modest image to acquire sympathy.

Course: History - BA (Hons) - C1087

Date Deposited: 2021-07-27

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13697.html