All the single ladies : unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation

Summary: Working on a book about single women in the twenty-first-century, Traister made a startling discovery: historically, when women have had options beyond early heterosexual marriage, their resulting independence has provoked massive social change. Unmarried women were crucial to the abolition, suffrage, temperance, and labor movements; they created settlement houses and secondary education for women. Today, only 20% of Americans are wed by age 29, compared to nearly 60% in 1960. Through the lens of the single American woman, Traister covers issues of class, race, and sexual orientation.

Record details

ISBN: 1476716587 (ebk)
ISBN: 9781476716589 (ebk)
ISBN: 1476716579 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781476716572 (pbk)
ISBN: 1476716560 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781476716565 (hbk)
Physical Description: xii, 339 pages ; 24cm
print
Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2016.
Copyright: © 2016

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-339).

Formatted Contents Note:

Watch out for that woman : the political and social power of an unmarried nation -- Single women have often made history : unmarried in America -- The sex of the cities : urban life and female independence -- Dangerous as lucifer matches : the friendships of women -- My solitude, my self : single women on their own -- For richer : work, money, and independence -- For poorer : single women and sexism, racism, and poverty -- Sex and the single girls : virginity to promiscuity and beyond -- Horse and carriage : marrying -- and not marrying -- in the time of singlehood -- Then comes what? and when? : independence and parenthood.