Between fainting couches, the rise of health spas & the treatment of “hysteria” - why is it that the popular conception of women during the Victorian Era was that they had delicate, even feeble constitutions? Why is the stereotypical image of a Victorian woman in media is a sickly, consumptive waif?

by JustinJSrisuk

Was the era particularly dangerous in terms of women’s mortality, either through disease, overwork or childbirth? I saw an explanation online about how the widespread wearing of corsets contributed to medical issues, which is clearly a misunderstanding of why and how corsets were worn. Did the morbid themes of the literature of the Romantic Movement popularize the image of malingering lovelorn protagonists in Victorian pop culture?

voyeur324