As I navigated through the Dictionary of Victorian London I came across the controversial topic at the time of Women in Public and more specifically the rise of “Ladies clubs” as they were suspected and referred to in Victorian London during 1869. This article was from Punch, a newspaper taunting the idea that women could possibly get together and discuss what’s on their minds. “A LADIES’ Club is said to be in process of formation, how the male mind shudders at this most tremendous news!” The very first line of this published article captures the inequality between men and women and the outrageous belief of the narrowness of the women mind. Men quickly became worried that the involvement of their wife in this club would result in the interest of other men, dinner no longer being cooked, and the end to her “maternal duties.” This atrocious thinking by men is still seen in many parts of the world and is actually worse in some places than it was in 19th century London. India for example is a country where being a women means you will most likely be abused. National Crime Records Bureau reveal that a crime against a women is committed every three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the victim occurs every nine minutes. Patriarchy and the belief that women aren’t entitled to rights is the main reason for the abuse toward women seen in India. Women currently have very little opportunity to become educated in India, let alone form a club to talk about wha they may please to. Although throughout the years this oppression of women was no longer seen as predominately in London, it is still occurring in many parts of the world today.
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It’s really awful to think about how despite the progress that has been made in some countries, there are still places all over the world in which women are treated as completely worthless and inferior. The fact that some countries actually treat women worse than they were treated in the Victorian Age is appalling, as are those statistics.