Women as Prostitutes
In Victorian England, prostitution was legal; however, there is no known number for how many women were engaged in prostitution. Flanders (n.d.) writes that prostitution during this time carried a broad definition since it covered “ … women who were living with men outside marriage, or women who had had illegitimate children, or women who perhaps had relations with men, but for pleasure rather than money …” (para. 1). Often, streetwalking prostitutes were from the lower to middle classes, and used prostitution as a way to make money. The women involved were between the ages of 18 and 22, and lived in rooming houses that tolerated prostitution. These women were not traditionally viewed as the “fallen woman,” but instead were seen as workers in the transitional stage of their early life. People saw prostitution solely as a job because of the Victorian views surrounding sex—society did not believe that women could enjoy sex before marriage. By taking away the pleasure, it was seen as just another job, and even upper-class women could serve as mistresses in this capacity. Prostitutes were also in demand for military members, who were often not permitted to marry. When a woman decided to stop being a prostitute, she was often able to move on and get married with little difficulty, sometimes marrying a former client. What is interesting to note is that the women prostitutes had a larger degree of freedom than other working women. Instead of being enslaved by a gruelingly long work day, prostitutes had less demanding work than those who worked in factories and the like. In addition, they had enough money to personally pay for things and could enter the pub, which served as a center for political and social life. This small amount of freedom allowed women involved in prostitution to have a varying amount of freedom compared to the more “virtuous” woman (“The Great Social Evil: Victorian Prostitution,” n.d.).