Why Single Women are Thriving in the New Normal
Sometimes, it’s easier on the shelf.
“People who are single at heart lead their best, most authentic lives on their own. It’s ridiculous to assume that everyone who is alone is lonely.”
“You don’t want to be left on the shelf, do you?” There was a time when those words, freighted with pity and misogyny, sent ripples of fear down the spines of unmarried, twenty-something women everywhere.
In the 1950s and earlier, women were discouraged from working after marriage. Laws often terminated their employment once they wed, and they were also taught that their ultimate fulfillment came from marriage and children. The wage gap was much broader, and career opportunities for women were scarce. Society was heavily centered around the family model, making financial stability uncertain for women, not to mention reliable contraception was unavailable.
If a woman chose not to marry or remained single past her early 20s, she was labeled an “old maid” and other disparaging terms like spinster.
Argh.
Thankfully, much has changed. The term “spinster,” with its sexist connotations…
