A Ruined lady

I've often imagined a world where in the past people were more honest, trustworthy and moral.  In my research, I've learned that my ancestors were probably just good at concealing their true nature.  Of course, societal norms made it difficult to "act" a certain way in public and people had to put on a facade to conceal their hidden selves.  Today, we don't have such a burden.  Just tap into any part of social media and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Life was different in the 1800's.  People were not suppose to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage.  Women were not supposed to be pregnant if they were not married.  If a women became pregnant, she was considered "ruined."

Here is an interesting article from November 10, 1893 from The Cincinnati Enquirer regarding Kitty O'Brien who was "ruined" and became pregnant.  There is more to this story that is worth looking at, but for this post, I want to focus on the perception that Kitty had about having sex with a man she wasn't married to.