Figure 1.---This Engllish cabinet card shows an unidentified English girl riding side saddle. Notice the very long dress. It is an oudoor portrait probably on an estate. We are not sure if the boy with her is a rekative or an estate worker. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1890s. All we know for sure is that the photographer was F.S. Harrison in Norwood. Norwood is in the London S.E. area.

Girls' and women's lives well into the 20th century were highly constrained. Parents insisted they stay at home or vclose to homer where could be warched and supervised. Boys on the other hand were given much more freedom from an early age. Even schooling was limited for girls. Education was seen as important for a boy, but of little use for a girl besides larning to read and write at a Dame School or in wealthy families from a tutor. Primary education became standard in the 19th century as Britain began to build a state primary system. Only after mid-century did parents begin to see education as importsant for girls, but until moderrn times the education of boys was seen as more imprtant. There was also a vast fifference in girls play. Girls did not play the sports that began to develop in England like football and cricket. This did not beginto chne signoficantly until the mod-20th centutuy. And even now girls tend to be much less involved with sports than boys. Nor did they engsge in many other other outdoor play activies as well as hunting and fishing. One outdoor activity they did engsge in, at least the upper class--horse-back riding. But girls and women only trode side saddle. This required some skill. No one knows the origins of side saddle. Some say women started riding sidesaddle (14th century), and some say it was even earlier. This appears to have begun in the late-medieval era. It may have actually been an advance for women. Earlier European women may not have rode horses. Princess Ann rode sidesaddle to marry King Richard II (1382). This style of riding became seen as the only way that a woman could properly preserve a woman's virginity. Thus it was the only way for a woman to ride. Upper class girls had access to a range of activities such as archery, bagmitton, croquet, and other ativities that few oyher girlks could enjoy. Most other girlsw ho stayed at home most of the day engzaged in sedate play with dolls abd tea sets. We do see girls plying with hoops like boys, but little else. They would learn domestic skills like cooking, housekeeping, needle work, and sewing. Both boys and girls did enjoy board games and playing cards, although fsr fewer furls are iknterested in chess than boys. Here the question arises as to how much of this is culturally imposed as compared to inate ability or interest. Work also varied significantly. Poor girls might go into service. Girls from wealthy families would wait for a man to marry and support her. For girls from more modest income families there was a narrow range of employment opportunities, such as governess or nanny, nurse, secretary, and teacher. This also did not begin to significantly change until the mid-20th century.

Created: 7:09 PM 11/19/2010
Last updated: 7:09 PM 11/19/2010