Read below..it's not a surprise to me because I know about the Victorians and their hang-ups and belief systems, but still..GEESH! Read ON:
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In addition to beliefs about physical and mental inferiority, were certain "scientific" views of human sexuality which governed nineteenth century men and women. These come down to essentially three ideas:
1) The human body has only a limited amount of energy. It is a closed system. The expenditure of energy must, therefore, be closely regulated, because one activity would drain energy from another.
2) The sexual instinct is the most primitive instinct. Phrenologists located it at the base of the brain.
3) Sexual feelings were strong in men, but absent in women (certainly in ladies). Actually was conflicted opinion about female sexuality--passion in women was feared, because the demands it would make on men were insatiable and like a vampire, it was feared she would drain him of his life force). Men were seen in continual struggle with their passions. In the interests of their own health, they must control them--but not expected always to succeed.
Given attitudes about sexuality, puberty was considered critical period for both men and women, and therefore the subject of much advice. This was the time that men became strong and vigorous and women became timid and weak.
The period was critical for women and the future of the human race, because if women did not develop some equilibrium in their body, they would not only damage themselves, causing untold pain, cancer, disease, a difficult menopause, and early death, but they would also damage their children. For the nineteenth century believed that the traits of a child were inherited from his or her parents, but the laws of heredity differed from those we now recognize. They believed that men passed on to their children their outer frame, their musculature, and their intellect. Women passed on the condition of their internal organs, and their emotional stability or instability.
It was assumed that women had a lesser amount of energy, or "life force" than men. Bodily fluids like blood were one measure of "life forces." Because the female reproductive system was more complex than the male, it was considered important for women to channel all their energies into reproduction. Therefore, women were discouraged from intellectual activity because blood was needed for the development of the reproductive organs. This was particularly important at puberty, when menstruation began and physical development hastened. Woamen who diverted t heir energy would become weak, nervous, sterile, or capable only of bearing sickly and neurotic children. It was estimated that education took away about 20% of a woman's vital energy. Pregnant women too must not strain their brains, because intellectual activity would divert blood from the fetus, and result in the physical degeneration of the child, or their insanity.
Doctors advised women, from puberty to menopause, to direct their attention toward healthy reproduction. Women must avoid strong emotions, like anger, because they might damage their organs. Motherhood was a woman's normal function. Those who thwarted nature's plan must expect to suffer for their action. Spinsters and celebates were thus fated to experience a greater incidence of physical and emotional disease, a shorter life span, and a reproductive system under constant pressure and therefore prone to cancer and digenerative ills. A woman's reproductive organs must be bathed occasionally with a man's vital force if she was to remain healthy.
Puberty was just as critical a time for men. This was the era of the self-made man, and men must concentrate their energies, their life force on getting ahead in the world. Men must, in particular, reserve their sexual energies, because semen was believed the most potent of life forces. It was estimated that one ounce of semen carried as much energy as four ounces of blood. There was some concern about too much continence, that is, too little sexual expression in men, but for the most part, the concern was for excessive sexual activity. Particularly at puberty, masturbation or frequent intercourse would result in premature decay, and the exposure of the male to disease and early death. Women's indifference to sex was upheld as a guard on men, helping them to protect themselves, and prevent over-expenditure of their life force.
One reason why Freud so quickly accepted in America was that the idea of the sublimation of sexual energies in work or play was deeply ingrained in American culture. Dr. Frederick Hollic wrote: "I am fully persuaded that there is no case of precocious or excessive sexual propensity, unless caused by disease, that cannot be easily subdued by muscular exercise. No matter how vigorously the seminal glands may act, in a state of leisure, they must become less active if the body be exhausted by active exertion, and to this rule there is scarcely any limit."
The nineteenth century developed a whole vocabulary which demonstrates how closely sexual and economic metaphors overlapped in their minds. Mining, railroad building, canal digging, all held sexual overtones of male mastery over female nature. Economic development was valued as an outlet for sexual needs. "ejaculation" = "expenditure", "semen" = "thrift", "intercourse" = "connubial commerce", "womb" = "treasure" "child birth" = "labor". A man's work duplicated women's reproductive power. These were the central factors in male/female identity and social role. The separate spheres of men and women were determined by men's and women's different physical and mental makeup.
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This was taken from: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/truewoman.html
Very fascinating (and frightening stuff)
