In defense of the Victorians

I am so, so tired of seeing people describe something they don't like as "Victorian." Now, there are things that could with fairness be derogatorily described as Victorian - sweatshops leap to mind - but no one ever does.

No, if someone is appending the word Victorian to something it's probably to do with women's rights; the word prudery will probably mentioned; somewhere, a mention of piano legs decked in little skirts will probably be slipped in. "Putting women on a pedestal is just as sexist as believing women are the worms of the earth," the commentator will intone, gleeful that he's finally found a reasonable excuse for his belief that all women are bitches and whores (and he definitely means that in a derogatory sense) and should be treated as such.

( And now I will ride into battle, sword flailing, to defend the Victorians' honor. )