Magazine In 1889 Asked Women Why They Are Single, And The Answers Couldn’t Be More Relevant Today

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It’s funny how as time fleets it feels like everything is changing yet nothing is changing at the same time. Women today are quite different from Victorian women. For instance, in the 19th century, men and women’s roles became really separated. Men started to travel to their place of work while their wives, daughters, and sisters stayed behind at home to take care of domestic duties. The upper-class women had the help of servants as the famous crinoline, a huge bell-shaped skirt that was a fashion staple of the time, made it basically impossible to move in any sort of productive way.

As a result, men and women in the Victorian era became thought ofas ‘separate spheres’, that only saw each other twice a day: at breakfast and at dinner (not too much unlike today.) It’s then no surprise that some of these women stayed single, and had quite a funny way of explaining it!

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There Was A Prize

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DigiVictorian / Twitter

DigiVictorian / Twitter

Basically, women in the victorian era had one purpose in life and it was to marry and then spend the rest of their lives being a housewife and serving their husband’s needs. It should be no surprise why that would seem unappealing to some women who had much bigger needs for fulfillment and happiness.

The topic is of fascination to historians like Dr. Bob Nicholson, author of the The Digital Victorianist. While going through an 1889 edition of Tit-Bits Magazine, he came across a whole article dedicated to giving a prize to the woman with the best answer on why she was still single. And to our surprise, their answers are so relatable, they are still applicable today! These women were ahead of their time.