Wish granted, however!

[Kate Simmons]

On the theme of wishing to be a girl by magical means, What if one day the "Powers that be" decided to grant your wish. There is one "catch" however. You can become a woman but must be one in the 1860's. Would you still do it? Why or why not?:battingeyelashes::)

[Barbara Ella]

Interesting approach. Given the times, and the circumstances, and what women had to put up with, I would pass. Doubt I am up to enduring all they had to do, too much of a wimp.

Barbara

[DebbieL]

On the theme of wishing to be a girl by magical means, What if one day the "Powers that be" decided to grant your wish. There is one "catch" however. You can become a woman but must be one in the 1860's. Would you still do it? Why or why not?:battingeyelashes::)

I suppose part of it would depend on which country, which economic class, and what one would be doing. A Southern Belle of the pre-civil war south might be fun, even exciting. On the other hand, being a woman of little means in the slums of a larger city like New York, Chicago, London, or even Paris, where a woman who couldn't afford to marry well usually ended up selling herself in the streets to men who smelled like their work - like fish off the boat, like coal from the mine, or like meat from the slaughterhouse - not a particularly pleasant life. And life of that kind was short, often the prostitute who was lucky enough to land a big "score" would be killed to keep her from blabbing about her rich gentleman.

If one was lucky enough to marry well, it was usually by arrangement of the parents, not by love and courtship, and often a wife's primary duty was to bear children and manage the servants, while her husband worked and slept with *****s. In the duality society, the wife was supposed to act pure and innocent at all times, and rarely experienced much pleasure from her husband who was used to paying *****s who would encourage him to get in and out as quickly as possible.

A courtesan, a mistress in the french court, for example, would have the best life, she would be encouraged to educate herself in matters of state, and would often do services for her benefactors. Benjamin Franklin was notorious for his exploits with the courtesans, but he often used the courtesans to pass messages through his mistress to King Louis through his mistress. By avoiding direct interaction, the French were able to prevent the British from retaliating against the British and Americans were able to obtain arms and supplies from the French through sources that could not be traced back to the king.

If you were a woman who homesteaded in the American West, the duties and work would have been as hard as the work done by a man, in some cases harder. Women often worked in the fields plowing and weeding, while the men hunted for game and fish. A smart family would bring a couple of milk cows with them, to assure a supply of milk, cream, and butter, but with no pasturization - even that could be deadly. Diseases were also common, especially smallpox. Many pioneer women would have 8-10 children just so that 4-5 would survive, and often they died in childbirth. Again, not much of a life.

Bottom line, being a woman in the 1860s would not have been near as attractive or fun as it is now.

Even as late as the 1930s, being a woman would have been very difficult, and even in the 1950s, women had to be careful to protect their "purity" for marriage, and then often found that marriage itself was loneliness, isolation, boredom, hard work, and sleep deprivation. Many women suffered from severe depression, and were medicated with tranquilizers and if that didn't work they would use electroshock or even a spike in the head. And if the wife resisted, her husband could divorce her, and would stop paying alimony the minute she even thought about getting married.

Perhaps one of the reasons there are so many more MtF transsexuals is that the Women's Liberation movement has made it so much more desirable to be a woman.

[Persephone]

Guess it depends upon who I would be! I have no desire to be a slave, a serving girl, or a scullery maid. But if I could be Scarlett O'Hara we're talking a "Yes!"


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/sandylewiscares/ScarlettOhara.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/sandylewiscares/gone-with-the-wind.gif

Hugs,
Persephone.

[franlee]

Not No but Hell No! No Air Conditioning and to many layers of clothes. Now if there had been Central Air at my plantation it would be a different story.

[May(be)]

Feminine hygiene would be too much of an issue for me. Nope, pass.

[Lorileah]

well one thing for sure you probably would not have to be one for long...

[kimdl93]

Nope....that would be a death sentence

[tara t]

yup.i think i'd do it .

[Dusty815]

Don't think I would, I'm too loyal to the modern conveniences of the day.

[docrobbysherry]

Or maybe, 2060? Which would u choose? A known backward time or a pig in a poke in the future?

Personally? I'd choose 2060! I can ALWAYS buy Scarlet's corset and dresses! But, maybe in 50 years I could wear them to the mall with no problems!?

[Kate Simmons]

I would be okay with it as I was already a frontier wife in a previous life, so could do it. I had learned remedies for many illnesses using Native American herbs, etc. Also, I learned many Native American beauty tricks using natural dyes and fragrances to look and feel nice. It wasn't all hard work and no play either, with all the social get togethers and church.:battingeyelashes::)

[Eryn]

If I were a member of aristocracy the proposition might be attractive, but the odds are that I would be a commoner or less. For the lower classes regardless of gender, the words of Thomas Hobbes apply. Life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".

Pass. I'll take being a happy CDer in the present day!

[STACY B]

I'll do it ,,As long as I can run the Brothel !!! LOL,,,,

[Abbygirl]

If the powers granted the chance, I'd have to do it, even as a 1860's gal. Couldn't turn it down! Interesting angle.

[Ashley D.]

I would do it without second thought. no-matter the time life is what you make it.
I would do my best and be happy with what I was given.

[Tracii G]

A southern belle in a wealthy family sure I would.

[JohannaSophia]

Now this is one change I would want to tie to time travel, how interesting to spend time in several eras but with a way out.

[noeleena]

Hi

Kate you know what i do . 1860s camara was in the process of we can have pics , how neat.

your time is in the middle of my times or the of dressing 1400 to 1700 & 1900 to 1910 well i do dress in peroid wear & garb. If it was only about clothes or the romanic side of life
that we would like to see then yes the other side of hardships & so on id have to be a very strong woman for those times,

I could do it though just remember we would not know about or the time we have come from as in going back because i know there were many unhappy women back then & the thier lot in life was not good, contray to what we would like to think other wise.

I have a better idear because of our group & what we do when we spend a week to gether food wise is different clothes or garb sure is & hygene,

Stacy .

I am a Chateline as you know or the Lady of the Castle .>> i do a good Wench so watch out ill let you in with our hired ummmm yes well you know who.....We have a very classy clientele you may even get a silver soveriegn for your ummm evening.

...noeleena...

[Cheryl T]

I would have to turn that offer down.
If I'm not mistaken most didn't have running water and only bathed perhaps once a week...maybe less. That's just not for me.

[Pexetta]

There's 1860 and 1860 - if I can be Louisa May Alcott, bring it on. If I have to be some frontierswoman nursing her bleeding callouses, or a poor little matchgirl, then not so good.

[Joann Smith]

Hell naw...the 1860's were not so Black girl friendly

[xdressed]

A world where neither my girlfriend or heavy metal music exists? Not worth it lol, I bet I wouldn't even be allowed to go to the pub and get drunk either

[outhiking]

No way. I wouldn't be anyone in the 1860's. One reason, modern dental care. Ok, that and toilet paper.

[Beverley Sims]

Sorry Kate, I would prefer now.
The only thing I like is the long flowing dresses and materials.
I want to wear them out of context though, modern foundation garments makeup etc.

[DebbieL]

Just for fun, let's also look a few centuries back.

1660 - Queen Elizabeth had it good, but after that, King James and the Reformation were doing everything they could to "put women in their places". Many women were burned at the stake as witches.

1560 - The black plague - witch trials, torture, and refusing your husband could result in being burned at the stake.

1260 to 1460 - The inquisition, forced marriage, nuns who literally cut off their noses to spite their face.

[sometimes_miss]

I get the feeling that this will progress to the point where you will come up with conditions so bad, that no one will choose to be a girl. My question; why not make the choices against each other on equal terms? Today not being an option; would you want to be a male in1862, the year of astronomical military deaths? Or be a woman who stayed behind and wasn't involved in the fighting of the war? If the option were to be abused as a kid, and wind up a screwed up crossdresser, or be a normal girl in the 1860's, I'd go for the 1860's. And if you toss in that I'd know what I know now, I'd become filthy rich, beating Edison, Tesla, etc. to the punch. Con Edison would be called Con Alexandra. The Pennsylvania railroad would be called the Alexandra railroad. Exxon stations would be Alexa stations. See how easy it is to turn it all around? Oh, the great things I would do with the knowledge I'd have at my command.

[JaytoJillian]

and be a slave or an ex-slave? no thank you

[MsJanessa]

On the theme of wishing to be a girl by magical means, What if one day the "Powers that be" decided to grant your wish. There is one "catch" however. You can become a woman but must be one in the 1860's. Would you still do it? Why or why not?:battingeyelashes::)
Only if I had dozens of gowns with hoop skirts, with matching corsets,at least 10 servants, including 3 maids, maybe 4, my own castle and lots of money

[Kaz]

Do we get to go there knowing what we know know? Then hell yes... I would by now be a modern day heroine. It would have been a big struggle, but my inability to conform to stereotypes would have driven me forward... or I would have been locked up in some mental asylum! But as has been noted... we were more class driven as a society in those days... well except for the pioneering Wild West and Canada. My family tree (on my fathers side) would suggest that in 1860 I would have emigrated to America or would have been living in a farming community in the South West of the UK... not such a good life on many levels, but in many other ways... I would have been bringing up a family, cooking, washing, cleaning, sounds bad... but the guy lives would have been working dawn to dusk in the fields and desperate for a meal when they got home... and probably a lot more appreciative of their wives...?

In the affluent West and BRIC, South Pacific Rim, modern women live lives that are very different from back then... things have changed fr the better, but so has quality of life in general... Being a guy in 1860 wasn't that good either? Food for thought!

[countrygirl]

Along is was a southern belle definitely

[Kate Simmons]

Another one I forgot to mention is that I was a Rum Wench on a pirate ship, I did wear a short sword under my dress though to ward off undesirables.:)

[daarleane]

Broaden your thoughts a little further and ask yourself if you would have liked to live as either gender at that time. Of course everything depends upon your position in that time. Are you wealthy or poor, don't worry about middle class it wasn't around at that time. Labor conditions were horrible, everyone went west looking for a better life, the civil war was happening. What do you think?

[Frédérique]

There is one "catch" however. You can become a woman but must be one in the 1860's. Would you still do it? Why or why not?

What kind of a woman in the 1860’s? You mean a billowing skirt, corseted, walking piece of furniture kind of woman, or maybe the kind of woman who doesn’t dress to make the MAN look good, or maybe a woman who isn’t burdened by societal mores? I wouldn’t mind looking like one of those women in a Manet painting (1860’s), but I wouldn’t like to wear those corsets stiffened with whalebone and worry about my bustle all the live long day. To answer your question, NO, I wouldn’t want to be a woman in the 1860’s, but I would LOVE to be one in the 1790’s, at least in ways of fashion. Would I have a say in things? Of course not, but I could be wild and romantic as I flaunt convention, maybe becoming a historical "figure" along the way…
:battingeyelashes:

[Kate Simmons]

Indeed, we are making history as we speak Freddy. Experiencing being a uniquely different kind of woman.:)

[Tip or Ozma]

I would be pleased to be anyone in this image.

186912

[Missy]

Ok I would if I could use my knowledge then I would be the richest woman with all the inventions I could use back during that time

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Kate , That sounds like fun where do we get on the time machine.