- Women were expected to be married and to have children.
- Marriage was often seen as a way for women to secure their financial future and to gain social status.
- Women were discouraged from working outside the home but, if they did obtain a job, it was typically in a low-paying, female-dominated field.
- Upper and middle-class women may have had some freedom to pursue their own interests, but they were still subject to many restrictions.
- Most women were not allowed to vote or hold public office, and they were limited in the careers they could pursue.
- Women's lives were often centered around the home and family.
Fashion
- "Hobble Skirts"
- "Gibson Girls"
- Corsets
- "The Bloomer Dress"
Domestic Life
- Women were expected to keep house, cook, clean and care for children.
- Women did most of their shopping in-person for household goods, including produce and meat.
- Women generally did most of the laundry by hand.
- Wealthier households had servants to perform manual household labor, but those households would have still been the exception.
Political Impact
- Women’s suffrage was in the early stages in the United States with several western states allowing women to vote, but not in federal elections.
- Women's rights movement was becoming more vocal, but it was not until much later that women achieved political equality.