Abstract

Why and when did sexuality become an important political issue for Victorian feminists? Why were Edwardian feminists so divided in their views about sexual freedom and its relationship to women's emancipation? The Real Facts of Life tackles these important questions, providing an analysis of the struggle for female sexual autonomy which posed a significant threat to the structure of male power during this period. It shows how feminists confronted the institution of heterosexuality by waging campaigns to expose what they called 'The Real Facts of Life': the sexual exploitation of women in marriage and prostitution, and the double standard of sexual morality which legitimated this as 'natural'.