During the late 19^th century, traditions took a turn as suffragist stopped marrying for women’s rights. In a society where patriarchy has always had a place, Victorian women took matters into their own hands to dismantle it. Starting with dismantling marriage. Women in the 1800s were often expected to exclusively prioritize family and marriage. With the rise in education and new career opportunities women began to choose themselves over marriage. According to Karen Lee, “They more and more often attended college instead of marrying immediately, creating a growing force of university-educated women seeking careers—not just “jobs”—in fields that had previously been unavailable to them.”(Lee 2020). The term “Bachelor Girl” was a result of a negative term, “Spinster”. The term “Spinster” was a term to describe women who live off family members. The revolutionary movement to change this narrative started by changing these derogatory terms. Victorian women gave new life to remaining unmarried hence the term “Bachelor Girl” to describe a woman who is well educated and independent. Anne Brown Adams, the daughter of John Brown, wrote to a friends about the struggles of marriage in the Victorian era, “The struggles for a married woman’s rights will be a longer and a harder fought battle than any other that the wild has ever known. Men have been taught that they are absolute monarchs in their families, ( even in a republican country,) ever since the world began, and that to kill a wife by inches, is not murder women are taught from infancy that to betray, or even to mention to an intimate friend their secrets of their married life, is worse than disgraceful, Therein lies the power of the man, He knows that no matter what he does the woman will keep silent as the grave.”(Circa. 1880s). The notion of remaining unmarried is still present in 2024 today. The 4B movement in Korea has taken notes from “ The Bachelor Girls” and has implemented “ No Marriage” in their movement. The 4B movement in Korea highlights the need for social change with marriage being one of the elements. The 4B movement has unclipped Patmore’s “ The Angel in the House” wings to create the modern day “Bachelor Girl”.

Work Cited 

Primary Sources: 

The struggle for married women’s rights, circa 1880s | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. (n.d.-a). https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source...

Secondary Source: 

Lee, K. (2020, February 10). How Victorian “Bachelor girls” revolutionized America’s view of single women. Newspapers.com by Ancestry. https://blog.newspapers.com/bachelor-girls/