Josephine Grey Butler(b. 1828-d. 1906) |
Josephine Butler grew up in a wealthy and politically prominent
family in England. Her father John Grey was an advocate of social reform.
Josephine shared her father's views, principles and hatred of injustice. She
voiced her opinions on inequality and injustice no matter the price her
reputation would take. She was an argued for the improvement of women's
employment, women's education and campaigned for reform of the Contagious
Diseases Act.
In 1863, Josephine decided to get involved in charity work
as a way to deal with the death of her young daughter. She visited local
workhouses and began to rescue young prostitutes. Josephine felt that many young
women were forced into prostitution because of low wage earnings and
unemployment in the country. She also became involved in improving women's
education and employment. Josephine became the president of the North of England
Council for the Higher Education of Women. She also persuaded Cambridge
University into offering more courses and opportunities for women. The result
was the establishment of Newnham College, an all-women college.
Josephine
wrote two works: The Education and Employment of Women and Women's
Work and Women's Culture. In the first work, she argued for
opportunities in education and employment for single women. In the second work
she angered many feminists because she warned women not to rival men since women
had a different part to play in society. Josephine felt that women were
different from men. A woman's role was to protect and care for the weak. A woman
should be able to vote because their needs and abilities are different from men.
Feminists felt that women should be rivals with men and are able to compete with
men in every way.
She became the leader of the Ladies National
Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act of 1870. The act was
to prevent contagious diseases in the armed forces. The bill meant that any
woman who was said to be a prostitute could be forcibly examined and imprisoned
if she resisted. If she had a venereal disease, she could be kept in the 'Lock
Hospital' for three months. Instead of being innocent until proven guilty, the
women were defined as guilty and had to prove their innocence. The examinations
were conducted by men and often times painful and humiliating. There was no
pressure on men to be treated for venereal disease. Josephine campaigned against
these Acts to educate middle class women of the hypocrisy of male dominated
morality toward women of their own class and the cruelty of other women. The
campaigned attacked sex and class dominance within one of the most taboo areas
of Victorian sexual culture. Also, it was led by a woman who insisted that upper
class men be subject to their own moral code.
Josephine went all over
the country giving speeches about the Contagious Diseases Act. She was an
excellent orator, who attracted a large audience. Many were shocked that a woman
was giving explicit speeches about sexual matters. Her husband stood by her side
although he was criticized and told that his support would hurt his academic
standing in the country. Parliament finally repealed the Acts in 1886; this was
considered a major feminist triumph.
Josephine Butler was a revolutionary
feminist. She forced the Parliament to change the legal age of prostitutes from
13 to 16 years of age, helped advance the opportunities of women in education
and brought forth the hypocrisy of male morality on women through the Contagious
Diseases Act. Josephine used her standing in society to help the less fortunate
women of her country. She died in 1906.
Bartley, Paula. Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England,
1860-1914. Journal of Social History 36.4 (2003) 1081-1083.
The author of this journal
examines the emergence and causes of prostitution. It also examines the
reformation of acts such as the Contagious Diseases Act and its impact on
prostitution and women. The author examines ways to keep girls from turning to
prostitution and ways to reform those who are already prostituting. The journal
is good but a bit lengthy.
BBC. "Historic Figures: Josephine Butler"
British Broadcasting Company. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/butler_josephine.shtml>
(19 December 2005).
This website is a great site for information
on Josephine Butler and other Victorian women. It has a short but good biography
and many links to British history. I would recommend this site for anyone
interested in British history.
Brittain, Vera. Lady Into Woman.
New York, N.Y.: MacMillan, 1953.
This book follows the history of women
from the Victorian days to the 1950s. The book is easy to read and the chapters
are clearly defined. The source contains many women, including Josephine Butler
and their accomplishments. Although the book is dated, I would recommend this
book as a starting point for research on women's history.
DiCaprio,
Lisa and Wiesner, Merry. Lives and Voices: Sources in European Women's
History. Boston, MA.: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
This book is great for
use in the classroom. It utilizes primary sources to learn about women's history
starting from the Bible to present day. The book contains an article, "Letter to
My Countrywomen, Dwelling in the Farmsteads and Cottages of England." The
purpose of this article was to stir up support against the Contagious Diseases
Act by the working class and religious organizations. The book is a great read
because it gives a summary of the time period, a summary of the work and the
primary source itself. I strongly suggest this book for any professor to use in
college.
Hooper, Katy. "The Josephine Butler Collections" University
of Liverpool. ( 30 September 2004) <http://sca.lib.liv.ac.uk/collections/butler/butler1.htm>
(19 December 2005).
I found this to be a very useful source. It
includes many links to information about Josephine Butler including personal
letters to and from her husband and public figures and also, her diary. The site
has a detailed biography and includes a few pictures of Josephine. There is also
a link for the Women's Library at the London Metropolitan University. The
Women's library has many collections with an abundance of information on
Josephine Butler.
Norton, Katie. "Josephine Butler" Virginia Tech.
<http://athena.english.vt.edu/~jmooney/3044biosa-g/butler.html>
(19 December 2005).
The webpage was written by an English Major
at Virginia Tech. The Biography is good and easy to read. There is not much to
this site. There are no further external links. I would recommend this page if
someone is interested in a short biography of Josephine Butler but would not
recommend this site for anyone who needs in-depth research material.
Petrie, Glen. A Singular Iniquity: The Campaigns of Josephine
Butler. New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, 1971.
This is a great book for
information on Josephine Butler since it is dedicated to her history and life's
work. Included in the book are excerpts of personal letters to and from her
children and her husband George. It also explains the campaigns against her by
Parliament and the upper class men of Victorian society. The book is a bit
lengthy but I would still recommend this book to any level reader.
Rowbotham, Sheila. Hidden from History. New York, N.Y.:
Pantheon, 1974.
This book studies women's history from the Puritan
Revolution to the 1930s. It investigates how sex, work, family and societal
demands have shaped and hindered the woman's struggle from equality. This source
explains the campaign of Josephine Butler against the Contagious Diseases Act
and her work with prostitutes. She examines the effect of Josephine Butler had
on class domination and sexual taboos in Victorian society. The author uses
primary documents such as letters to reveal the real history of women. This was
an excellent book even though the book is slightly difficult to read. I would
recommend this book for upper level readers.
Wohl, Anthony S. "The
Contagious Disease Act" (13, May 2004). <http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/contagious.html>
(19 December 2005).
This is the best website to access
information about history, literature and culture of the Victorian Era. The site
explains the Contagious Diseases Act in detail. The information on this site is
easy to read. The site is easy to navigate also. The website includes
information about gender matters, politics, religion, science and much more.
This is highly recommended for the study of the Victorian Era.
Anonymous. "Josephine Butler" ( 10 November 2005) <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wbutler.htm>
(19 December 2005).
This site was an excellent source to find
information about Josephine Butler. It includes a great biography and many links
to information such as the Contagious Diseases Act. The site also includes
excerpts from her books. I highly recommend this site for people of all ages.
This page has
had |
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http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/topmodel.html Originally written by Enrica Bellucci 2005 Last Revision 18 December 2005 Copyright © MMV Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Site |