7 Suitable Career Options for 19th Century Women

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The 19th century woman’s primordial role was to stay at home and take care of her constantly growing family. As there was no contraception back then, and domestic appliances were not yet invented, she had no time for anything else. If work she must, she had few choices depending on her social class.

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Allowing his wife to work was a sign of failure for a middle-class man who should earn enough to support his family. His unmarried daughters must also forget about working unless they chose a religious calling such as the Sister of Charity. It is Option One in the above image which shows the social scale of morally approved women’s occupations. Why the nun is placed so low is unclear. It could be that to serve in a religious order, she disqualified herself as a mother. For it is important to clarify that the moral duty of girls was to marry a suitable man and bear his children. With that in mind, they were taught domestic management, sewing, mending, embroidering, obedience, and light conversation.

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Number Two, the midwife, was an indispensable occupation before physicians and maternity hospitals took over pregnancy management and childbirthing. The profession had its dark corners when pregnancy was undesirable, and it often was. A midwife who provided a special service risked the death penalty. Even without that, the profession had many sad moments as one woman out of five died in childbirth. Besides midwifery, women could also work as nurses, particularly during times of war, where they played a critical role in caring for wounded soldiers.

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Teaching – Number Three on the list – was one of the most approved professions for single women in the 19th century. It was seen as the precursor to their future role as caretakers and nurturers. However, this fulfilling career ended abruptly when the teacher married. With rare exceptions, married women were prohibited from teaching. They had more important duties to attend to: that of wife and mother.

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Number Four, the merchant, had no such limitations. Here, she is portrayed as a provider of fashion items for women. Fashion offered endless job opportunities, even more than today, but independent businesswomen could be more often found in market stalls or as street pushcart dealers. Single women and widows had more autonomy in running their businesses. On the social scale in the picture, the businesswoman occupies the highest position.

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Domestic servants, as in Number Five, were the largest group of female employees. It was a job offered to anyone willing to work endless hours for a small wage and for room-and-board security. Conditions varied greatly, but deference and obedience were essential. Young and pretty servants could be exposed to their employer’s caprices. They were immediately dismissed if they became pregnant. The law did not allow paternity suits.

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Moving down the social scale to Number Six, we encounter the worker. Nothing to envy here. Hard work, difficult conditions, long hours, and miserable wages were these women’s lot. Working classes cared little about bourgeois morality. On average, in Paris alone, 14 thousand illegitimate children were born each year, and almost as many were abandoned. If that sounds shocking, consider that a marriage licence cost 50 francs and the average female worker earned about one franc a day and often less.

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France in the 19th century was predominantly agricultural. Number Seven, the peasant woman, was born into her profession. Her only career choice was to use the newly built railway and move to the city, to work as a domestic servant. The smart and lucky ones climbed up the ladder to positions of trust, such as lady’s maid or even a housekeeper. These women would return home with their savings to marry a civil servant, like a postmaster or the municipality clerk, to move up on the social ladder. Better yet, they’d open a shop and instantly become middle-class. The less fortunate postulants were intercepted in railway stations by brothel recruiters and offered cushy jobs and plenty of pretty things to wear. Eventually, these girls would end up as street prostitutes along with the dismissed pregnant maids.

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Generally speaking, the greatest career moves in the 19th century were achieved by high-ranking courtesans who amassed colossal fortunes including chateaux and aristocratic titles. The reader may consider the irony of that fact.

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Related posts:

La Grisette (The Working Class Woman)

The English Courtesan Who Made a French Emperor

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