In 1889, Victorian London saw the popular magazine Tit-Bits launch a daring contest that captured the imagination of single women across the country. The challenge was simple yet provocative: to answer the question, “Why am I a spinster?”
With a prize of five shillings for 21 winners, the competition attracted a flood of responses. What made it stand out was not the modest reward, but the sharp wit and fearless honesty with which women challenged the prevailing idea that marriage was their inevitable destiny.
The competition generated a huge number of witty, sharp, and revealing responses, challenging the common Victorian stereotype of the “old maid” as desperate or sad. The editor was so impressed that they published a full page of the best answers.
Jessie Davies cheekily remarked that she was single because “all the men are already taken by American women,” while Miss Sparrow compared men to troublesome pets—harder to manage than dogs, less affectionate than cats, and far less entertaining than monkeys.
Emaline Lawrence took a poetic turn, likening men to cakes that appeared inviting on the outside but proved dull once tasted. Perhaps most striking was Sarah Kennerly, who embraced freedom over societal expectation, declaring she would rather run wild and free than be bound by the “ropes of marriage.”
These witty voices from more than a century ago continue to resonate today. They reveal a spirit of independence and self-awareness that defied the constraints of their time, offering a timeless reminder of women’s resilience. In answering Tit-Bits’ playful question, these women not only entertained but also carved out a quiet rebellion, showing that dignity, humor, and independence could triumph over convention.
(Images via Dr Bob Nicholson)
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