7 daring answers from women why they don’t want to get married, published in a 19th century magazine (9 photos)

Two centuries ago, public ridicule about this was the norm for single ladies. Because of this, some became “thick-skinned” and did not succumb to caustic jokes, wittily parrying attacks.





Even today, many girls who, for some reason, are not married, sometimes get tired of the obsessive question: why is this? Although in our time there is no shame in being lonely. What can we say about women of the 19th century who were not burdened by marriage bonds?



Historian Bob Nicholson, studying an old issue of the British magazine Tit-Bits from 1889, discovered interesting notes. The newspaper's publishers invited single women to send their answers to the question “why am I an old maid?” and for the best of them they promised a prize. There were so many ladies who responded that the editors couldn’t choose just one, so they published several at once. There were no illustrations, but we, having decided to introduce you to the curious opinions of women of that era, decided to spice them up with suitable photographs.

Miss Emaline Lawrence

“Because men are deceitful. They are pleasant in appearance, but upon closer acquaintance they turn out to be empty and callous.”





Miss Laura Bax

“Because marriage is like an electric battery: once you hold hands, you cannot let go, no matter how much suffering it causes.”



Miss Lizzie Moore

“The fact that I am an old maid can be explained by a quote from The Taming of the Shrew: “... among all the men, I have never met anyone whom I would prefer.”



Miss Sparrow

“Because I don’t want to expand my list of pets, and I find a man to be a beast. Less obedient than a dog, less affectionate than a cat, and less funny than a monkey.”



Miss E. Jones

“John, whom I loved, was replaced in his office by a girl doing the same amount of work as him, only for half the salary. He could not earn enough to support his family and moved to another country. That's why I'm still an old maid."



Miss Sarah Kennerley

“Like a wild horse in the steppe that roams freely and throws up its head in contempt at the approach of a lasso that can make it a captive if one day it is placed around its neck, I find it delightful to walk on the border between freedom and captivity, rather than allow the mating lasso to wrap itself around me.”



But in the Nuba tribe everything is different. Women choose their own husbands, and they cannot refuse marriage.

Miss Florence Watts

“Because I can choose other professions and work in other areas where the working hours are shorter, the work is more pleasant, and perhaps get paid more for it.”



Florence worked as an artist. The following year, after entering a Tit-Bits magazine competition, she changed her mind and married writer Herbert Flowerdew.