1889 Magazine "Tit-Bits" Asked Women Why They Were Single, And Received Hilariously Savage Answers
Maybe the thought that Victorian women were dull and prudish is completely off base.
Times have definitely evolved, where being a single woman isn’t as big of a deal as it once was. Sure, there may still be pressure from your parents to “settle down” and make “grandbabies,” and the “crazy-cat-lady” trope still abounds.
But it’s definitely better than being mocked for being a spinster or considered to have something wrong with you for not being wed by a certain age. Take single women during the Victorian era, for example, where public ridicule for being a single woman was basically the norm.
Obviously, it would be nearly impossible to know how single women at the time felt about their situations until recently. Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and expert on love and relationships, emphasizes that “the choice to remain single can be a powerful statement of independence and self-identity.”
Dr. Fisher shared insights from an 1889 edition of Tit-Bits Magazine, where the publishers offered a prize to the spinster who could provide the best excuse for why she was single. The magazine received so many witty and savage responses that they couldn’t pick just one. And luckily for us, Dr. Fisher's research highlights how these women often challenged societal norms.
Dr. Fisher noted, “Some people imagine Victorian women to have been prudish and submissive — but many of the ‘spinsters’ who entered that competition were anything but. They were witty, irreverent, and proudly independent. I thought that was worth sharing.”
For a quick catch-up about the roles and expectations of Victorian England: Women were thought to be weaker and lesser than men, but also morally superior. Some days, it feels like not much has changed in that line of thought.
Women were expected to fit into and strictly adhere to domestic life, and any money made by a woman, whether through working, inheritance, or gifts, instantly became the property of her husband. Once married, the identity of the woman became legally that of her husband, essentially making them one person viewed by the law.
Thanks to this article, we now know for sure that there were exceptions to this idea. “I love finding evidence that challenges our assumptions about life in the nineteenth century,” Dr. Fisher shared.
Continue scrolling below to see some of the savage responses from these proud Victorian spinsters. ```
"Why Am I A Spinster?"
DigiVictorianPublishers share in the article that they were dividing the prize.
The responses were just too good to pick only one winner.
DigiVictorianQuite a simile; like a tart, nice to look at, but upon closer inspection, stale and hollow.
DigiVictorian
Marriage is akin to being electrocuted.
DigiVictorian
Miss Newton slaying me with "an setterar."
("an setterar" = etcetera)
DigiVictorian
No man looks quite handsome enough for Miss Moore.
DigiVictorian
"Always ready, but not yet wanted."
DigiVictorian
Miss Sparrow likens taking a husband to adding to her menagerie of pets.
DigiVictorian
giphy
Miss Jones blames her love for being unable to earn enough, so he moved abroad.
DigiVictorian
Because Americans.
DigiVictorian
giphy
Miss Kennerly prefers her freedom to marriage.
DigiVictorian
Being a wife is more work for little reward.
DigiVictorian
Miss Roberts sets her worth to match a rare piece of china.
DigiVictorian
The addition of the addresses helps find more information on the self-proclaimed spinsters.
DigiVictorian
One woman gave up spinsterhood and subsequently lost details about who she was and what she did.
DigiVictorian
DigiVictorian
In the Now-Times, it seems wild to publish addresses in a public magazine.
Suw
Ms. Kennerly certainly had an artistic way with words.
liliales
Honestly, same.
NicholaDeadman
With some house numbers as low as 8, that's an understandable concern.
0xabad1dea
Could you IMAGINE 1880's Twitter?!
emma_mp
giphy
Tit-Bits apparently had a long run.
Tit-Bits was in publication from October 22, 1881, to July 18, 1984.
arborlowenviron
Yet women still make less than men more often than not over a hundred years later.
MittereMary
Did you read the responses with an old-timey English accent, too?
ilrosso_
How do you think you'd fare back in Victorian times? Would you dutifully wed and take on the role of wife, knowing that you would no longer be seen as an individual?
While some more obvious things have changed since then, there are still some surprising similarities shared by the 1889 spinsters. Let us know if you agree in the comments below, and be sure to share this with your fellow modern spinsters.
