They were BANNED from doing WHAT?! 😧 || #history #historycomesalive #victorianera

One of the most infuriating things I have come across whilst researching women's history actually has to do with the armrests on chairs. I was reading the diaries of Arthur Munby, who was a man in the Victorian period who traveled around the UK interviewing working class women because he was really interested in their lives. And in 1859 he found

himself in a pottery manufactory in Stoke. Immediately he noticed that all of the workers and their roles were separated based on gender. So the women did all of the auxiliary tasks. They would manually spin the potter's wheel for example, or they would carry out the slightly smaller, less important, simple illustrations on the finished products.

The men by contrast would do the more artistic and significant parts of the process. So they would actually shape the clay and they would do the central decorative paintings. These were considered to be the skilled roles and therefore they were better paid. Now Arthur was really curious about why the factory didn't hire any women to do

these skilled roles. And the factory clerk that he spoke to told him that women haven't the skill of hand or mind for the higher artistic work. And he was right, the painting done by women was of a slightly lesser quality. Their handiwork was shakier, it was less refined, but there was a reason for

that. And Arthur spotted it quite quickly. Women at this factory and many others of a similar sort were not allowed to have armrests on their chairs. The male painters got to use them and they were essential for resting and steadying their arms so that their work was more controlled. Some of the female painters were able to succeed