Spinsters: That’s Who We Are and We Own It
Don’t try to shame contemporary single women. We’re not apologizing.
Does the term “spinster” make you want to rise up in protest if you are a single woman? Does it make you feel smug if you are coupled? Well, it shouldn’t. Spinsters have a proud history, and contemporary women who have been single their whole lives are doing far better than anyone ever imagined. Reclaiming the spinster label is a cultural project, and one person who took it a big step forward was Kate Bolick, in her book Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own.
I reviewed the book when it was first published — I’m sharing that review here in the first part of this article. Then you will find “10 Fun Facts about Spinsters.” The facts date back to the year 1450, and I found them all in Spinster. By “fun,” I don’t mean trivial. We’re talking a Nobel Prize and the founding of the first major union of working women in the United States. I end with “50 Shades of Single,” in which I mine Spinster for the proud, quirky, and powerful images of single women that Bolick uncovered, as well as 6 varieties of people who live alone.
