HIST 395: Sex and the City: Constructing Gender in London, 1700-1900
Spring 2016
T 2pm-3:20pm
WPH 200
Dr. Lindsay O’Neill ()
Office: SOS 255; Office Hours: Th 2-4pm
Ideas about sex and gender were changing in England as the eighteenth century folded into the nineteenth. As medical ideas altered, as the notion of the individual became cemented, and as a consumer culture grew, the way people thought about gender changed. This period saw the creation of separate spheres for men and women and this transformed expectations for each gender and thus influenced people’s family lives, work experiences, and sense of self. This class looks at how ideas about gender were refracted through objects and spaces, not only because societies imprint their gender expectations on objects, but because during this period things had come to matter more to the British. We will examine changing gender roles and expectations as revealed in class specific fashions in clothing and in design. We will explore the ways place mattered by looking at how the home and institutions such as brothels, public schools, and department stores presented a blueprint for gender ideals and realities. We will also look at how these ideas were reinforced through law, which both policed sexual mores and protected the established gender hierarchy.
The only way to truly understand the power of these objects is to see them, so this class, after meeting once a week during the semester, will travel to London for a week. We will go to museums that show what people wore and how they utilized space, both in private and in public. We will frequent the restaurants that bachelors did and have high tea, the purview of the female sex. We will also visit the houses, palaces, streets, and stores that the men and women of the period wandered among. This course aims to have students emerge with a critical sense of the ways ideas about gender are historically constructed, to make them critical readers of primary and secondary sources, and to have these think about the way these ideas are presented to the public in situ.
Requirements and Expectations @ USC:
Attendance & Absences: Your presence in class is important, especially since this class meets only once a week. You are expected to attend everyone, but if you need to miss one for a medical reason or emergency then you can make up that absence by writing a response paper on the material covered.
Class Etiquette: This class is yours as well as mine so treat it with respect and all should go swimmingly. I would rather not have your cell phones participate, so turn them off during class – no texting either. Do not use your computers to do anything but take notes - if I find students abusing this privilege I will have to institute a no computers policy. Finally, come on time and stay the whole time - otherwise it looks like the class is not a priority for you.
Make-ups and Extensions:Getting a paper in on time is your responsibility. If you think you will have a problem getting a paper in on time contact me before hand. This class calls on you to demonstrate your ability to write a good paper and to show good time management skills. Late papers will be penalized 1/3 of a letter grade for each day they are overdue. The same rules apply to the activities.
Academic Integrity: Presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words, is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. For a discussion of what plagiarism is see: Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. There is no unauthorized collaboration, cheating, or falsifying records. For USC’s Academic Integrity policies see: Here is a link to tutorials on the subject: If you have questions or doubts please see me.
Support Systems for Writing: If you are worried about your writing skills you can also see me, but if you want more help you can use USC’s writing center. You can set up consultations to discuss writing strategies. For more see:
Discrimination Policy: Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity Also see USC’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services: which provides 24/7 confidential support and other resources. For concerns regarding sexual assault see USC’s Sexual Assault Resource Center:
Disability Support System: The Office of Disability Services and Programs provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations.A letter verifying your needs can be obtained from DSP and should be given to me as soon as possible. Their website is:
Emergency Support System: If an officiallydeclared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information provide safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technology.
Requirements and Expectations Abroad:
Heath & Safety: To make sure you can get the treatment needed in an emergency there are a number of forms you must complete before we leave. They include a “Know before you go Informed Consent” form, a “Medical Treatment Authorization” form, and a “Travel Release” form. You must also have USC student health insurance or the USC overseas health insurance plan, which allow you access to International SOS, USC’scontracted health and safety emergency service provider for overseas programs. So you will also need to provide a copy of your heath insurance information and your International SOS emergency card. For more information see:
Travel Requirements: Since this class does travel abroad you will need a passport. If you do not already possess one you should start the process of applying for one immediately after being admitted into the course. The department does not cover the cost of your passport.
Other Expenses: The Department of History and your tuition dollars will cover the flight, accommodations, the attractions visited for class, travel around London (and to and from the airport), and a few meals. The student will cover all other expenses. Food will be the largest expense. Breakfast is included in the hotel price, but besides the three lunches noted in the syllabus students will be in charge of their lunches and dinners (worry not I will provide suggestions). Lunches should range around £10 and dinners £20. Food for the week should run around £250 with some snacks included, which would be $360. Other attractions or excursions, not included in the syllabus, the student choses to visit will not be covered.
Ambassadorial Responsibilities: When travelling abroad you are representing both your country and your university by your behavior. Students will be expected to show respect to everyone they come in contact with and to follow the guidelines and restrictions put forth by university representatives.
Required Books (available at USC Bookstore):
Amanda Vickery, Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England
John Tosh, A Man’s Place: Masculinity and the Middle Class Home
Judith Walkowitz, City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late Victorian London
Erika Rappaport, Shopping for Pleasure: Women in the Making of London’s West End (purchase used copies for a cheaper option)
Other Readings Available on Blackboard (BB)
Assignments:
Class Participation: 15%
You will be judged upon the amount you contribute to class each meeting and upon your engagement in our activities in London.
Activities: 5% each [15% total] (Due: Emailed before class on day listed)
After the first week, there are activities listed for each class until the last meeting. Each of these call upon you to interact with a different primary source database. You must sign up to complete three of them. [LHC majors must select their activities from weeks 7, 9, 10 and 12, which have a legal component]
Food Report: 10% (Due: Week 15)
During our time in London we will be having three different “food experiences.” We will visit a pub (or public house), a chophouse, and have high tea. The class will be split into three groups and each group will be responsible researching and presenting on one of these topics to the class when we are in London.
Special Collections Exhibit (Due: Week 14)
During the semester the class will be split into groups and each group will be tasked with developing an exhibit from items in special collections that highlights a theme from the course. On this day they will guide us through their exhibits. [LHC Students should focus on some aspect of legal culture]
Midterm Paper: 20% (Due: Time of Final Exam)
Each student must also write an explication of their Special Collections exhibit that explains the importance of the theme using the readings from the class and details how the objects chosen reflect theme.
Photo Log & Exhibit: 15% (Due: May 26)
During our London visit you will be tasked with taking photos of objects or places that you feel are indicative of what we’ve been learning. When we return you will upload your five best photos with a description to our class website [these are in addition to your blog reports]. You will then curate a “collection” for the website on a topic of your choice from all the photos taken by you and your classmates.
Final Paper: 25% (Due: May 26)
For this final paper, 10 pages in length, you should explore ideas about gender by examining how they were reflected through a certain room, source, or article of clothing. It should be centered on things we saw but draw upon primary and secondary sources you will gather on our return. [LHC majors are require to pick a source or place that relates to gender and the law]
Class Schedule:
Week 1: Becoming Men, Becoming Women
Reading [in class]: Thomas Laqueur, Making Sex, pgs 1-11
Week 2: Fashion & Social Power: The View from Above
Readings: Hannah Greig, Beau Monde: Chapter 1
Susan Vincent, “Men’s Hair: Managing Appearances in the Long 18th Century”
Valerie Steele, The Corset: A Cultural History: Chapter 2
Activity: Clothing the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection: This Activity calls on you to use the online collections of the Victorian & Albert Museum to explore the implications of clothing. You will go to the website and search for an item of clothing (gloves, coats, corsets…) and answer a series of questions about what these items tell us about the culture that created them. [For the website see:
Week 3: Fashion & Social Power: The View from Below
Reading: John Styles, Threads of Feeling: The London Foundling Hospital’s Textile Tokens 1740-1770
Activity: Exploring London Lives Database: This activity asks you to use the London Lives database (as vast archive of primary sources relating to 18th London with a focus on plebian Londoners) to find out about how cloth and clothing fit into the live of working class Londoners. You will pick a search term relating to cloth or clothing and see how it surfaces in the database and then answer a series of questions related to that search. [For the database see:
Week 4: Exploratory Trip to Special Collections
Week 5: Home Sweet Home, 18th Century Style
Reading: Amanda Vickery, Behind Closed Doors Chaps 3, 6, 10
Activity: Exploring the Lewis Walpole & British Museum Image Collections: You will be asked to go to this image databases and select a search term to explore images of houses or furniture. You will then be asked a number of questions based on your search. [For websites see: and
Week 6: Home Sweet Home, 19th Century Style
Reading: John Tosh, A Man’s Place, Chap 1 & 2
Judith Flanders, Inside the Victorian Home: Chap 5
Activity: Exploring Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management: This activity calls on you to look through a housing management book from the period. You will be expected to read sections from it, explore three recipes, and answer questions. [for the text see:
Week 7: Gender, Law, & Property
Reading:Erika Rappaport, Shopping for Pleasure: Women in the Making of London’s West End, Chap 2
Caroline Norton, English Laws for Women (1854), selections
Activity: UK Parliamentary Papers Activity: Before the passage of 1858 one of the only ways to get a divorce was through a private bill passed by Parliament. Use the database for the U.K. Parliamentary Papers to search for divorce proceedings between 1700 and 1858.
Week 8: Man Caves in the 18th & 19th C
Reading: Vickery, Chap. 2
Tosh, Chap. 5&6
Random Recollections of an Eton Life (1846)
Activity: PunchEton: In this activity you will use the Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992 to explore the way Eton surfaces in the the satirical magazine Punch.
Week 9: Illicit London in the 18th Century
Reading: Dan Cruickshank, London’s Sinful Secret: The Bawdy House and Very Public Passions of London’s Georgian Age, pg. 163-192,203-214
Selections from James Boswell’s Journal
Activity: Exploring the Old Bailey Online database: This activity asks you to use the Old Bailey Database (a database of accounts of trials from London’s main criminal court) to explore English attitudes toward sex by examining five cases labeled as sexual offenses, except sodomy, and then answering a number of questions. [
Week 10: Sex & The Street in Victorian London
Reading: Judith Walkowitz, City of Dreadful Delight, Chap 3,4 & 7
Activity: Reporting on Jack the Ripper: For this activity you will use the database British Newspapers, 1650-1950 to examine how the press reported on the Jack the Ripper case.
Week 11: Female Prospects in the 19th Century
Reading: Watch Jane Eyre (2011)
Tosh, Chap 7
Activity: Use the database of 19th Century British Newspapers to search for advertisements of governesses.
Week 12: Gay London & New Ideas About Domesticity
Reading: Tosh, Chap 8
“The Trials of Oscar Wilde”[
Activity: Exploring the Old Bailey Online database: This activity asks you to use the Old Bailey Database (a database of accounts of trials from London’s main criminal court) to explore English attitudes toward homosexuality by examining sodomy cases and then answering a number of questions. [
Week 13: Shopping Sprees, or the Dangers of the Department Store
Reading: Rappaport, Chapter 1 & 3
Activity: Reporting on the Universal Provider: This activity calls on you to explore the different ways William Whiteley, “The Universal Provider,” and his department story were reported on using the databases we have used for the class so far. You will then answer questions based on your findings.
Week 14: Special Collections Tour
During the semester the class will be split into groups and each group will be tasked with developing an exhibit from items from special collections that highlight a theme from the course. On this day they will guide us through their exhibits.
Week 15: Re-thinking Gender
No Reading
Food Report Due
Special Collections Paper Due @ time of final
Leave LAX May 15th
Orientation at LAX
Arrival Day (May 16):
Arrive at Hotel
Tea at British Library and Orientation
Look at Treasures
Day One (May 17):
National Portrait Gallery
Lunch in Trafalgar Square
This is London Tour
Day Two (May 18):
Victoria & Albert Museum
Morning: Fashion Section & Tour Area
Lunch in Café & Planning Session
Afternoon: Tour of Assigned Area
Later Afternoon: Tour Harrods
Day Three (May 19):
Morning: Dickens Museum
Lunch: The Lamb Tavern [Tavern Report ]
Afternoon: Foundling Museum
Day Four (May 20):
Morning: Geffrye Museum
Lunch: Simpson’s Tavern [Chophouse Report]
Afternoon: Museum of London
Day Five (May 21):
Morning: Kensington Palace
Lunch/Afternoon: Afternoon Tea at The Orangery [Tea Report]
Afternoon: Choose your own Adventure
Evening: Jack the Ripper Tour
Day 6 (May 22):
Morning: Arrive Windsor & Eton/Tour
Lunch: Windsor Great Park
Afternoon: Tour Eton
Day Seven (May 24):
Choose your own Adventure
Pub Meeting
Day Eight (May 24):
Leave London, Arrive LAX
May 26:Photo Log & Exhibit Due
Final Paper Due