Secret Societies of Sapphos: Faro Ladies, Bluestockings, and Gendered Insults of Women’s Societies in 18th- and 19th-Century Britain

Secret Societies & Clubs #4 of 4. London was a colorful place in the 1790s, full of vices that the Victorians took great pains to either criticize or euphemize in their histories of England: alcoholism, casual sex, venereal disease, child abandonment, vagrancy, unwed motherhood, and the list continues. To contemporaries, these were all areas of concern but one vice in particular took priority: gambling. Victorian historian John Ashton wrote that “the canker of gambling was surely eating into the very heart of the nation.” Why was gambling suddenly such a concern? Surely Britons had been gambling for centuries, playing cards, rolling dice, and placing wagers on aspects of every-day life since at least the times of the Picts (Iron Age). Your answer?... women were doing it. This week’s episode is about the exclusive Faro Ladies and a rival society that appeared, to all, to be their exact opposites, the Bluestockings. We, however, are not so sure… Read the transcript at digpodcast.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices