1889 Tit-Bits contest reveals Victorian spinsters' defiant humor

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on February 2, 2022. It has since been updated.

Historian Dr. Bob Nicholson, who runs the blog The Digital Victorianist, discovered an intriguing segment titled "The Spinsters' Prize" in an 1889 edition of Tit-Bits Magazine. This competition rewarded unmarried women for the best answers to why they hadn't found a husband yet. The responses, published on April 27, 1889, reveal that Victorian women had a sharp and humorous wit.

"I'm a historian who specializes in the history of Victorian pop culture," Dr. Nicholson told Bored Panda. "I was searching through old issues of Tit-Bits magazine in search of nineteenth-century jokes, and I happened across the 'Why am I a Spinster?' competition by accident. I love finding evidence that challenges our assumptions about life in the nineteenth century. Some people imagine Victorian women to have been prudish, reserved, and submissive to men—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."

Dr. Nicholson shared his findings in an X thread that soon went viral. "I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call the article progressive, but it does a good job of subverting the jokes that were usually told at women's expense," the historian added, explaining that 'spinster' jokes of the time typically presented unmarried women as either desperate to find a man or spiteful that they'd been left on the shelf. "There are hints of these misogynistic stereotypes in the Tit-Bits' article, but they also give a voice to women who comically assert their happiness at being single, and use the chance to mock men. This wasn't unheard of in Victorian humor, but it does go against the grain."

"Tit-Bits ran their competition at a time when the so-called 'woman question' was becoming increasingly debated in Victorian society," Dr. Nicholson said. "Many women were beginning to push for more rights and opportunities, including the right to be defined by more than just their marriage. I think the responses Tit-Bits received—and the fact that they printed them—hints at these changing attitudes."

Here are some of our favorite entries to the "Why am I a Spinster?" competition:

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