Oneill transports her dear readers back to the Victorian Age, though not the romanticized version found in novels, movies, or tv shows. You, dear reader, are taken back to the nineteenth century as a relatively wealthy young woman. Oneill doesn't spare the truth as she humorously guides you through the expectations of being a lady. Such topics include:
- Getting Dressed: How to Properly Hide your Shame
- The Treacherous Art of Bathing
- Menstruation: You're Doing It Wrong
- Beauty: Scorch, Slather, and Stuff
- Courtship: Not-Talking Your Way Into His Heart
- Birth Control and Other Affronts to God
- Being a Good Wife: How to Avoid His Eventual Resentment for as Long as Possible
- It's Hysterical: The Least Funny Thing About Victorian Life
It should come as no surprise that scientific and medical knowledge about female sexuality and womanhood was almost exclusively provided by men (some of whom had no medical training whatsoever). Many of these topics, especially the chapters about menstruation, childbirth, and hysteria, are examples of the pathology of being a woman--a phenomenon that unfortunately still exists in the 21st Century.
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