Women : The revolution of singles in the States

Last Update : July 6, 2016

According to the Washington Post, in 2015, over a quarter of American households had at least a single person in comparison with 1940 with only 7% of singles.

New terms are starting to be introduced such as « single at heart » or « singlism » that show the rise and strength of the new single’s revolution.

A revolution based on the positive aspects of being single. If a couple of years ago, being single was almost a curse, modern technology and development has completely disrupted traditional ways of life for singles.

“Single at heart”

The term was coined by psychologist Bella DePaulo, author of « Living single » or « All things Single (and more) ». According to DePaulo it is very important to create a certain awareness and celebrate Singlism as singles in the past have always been marginalized in our society in which we celebrate wedding and partnership.

Against this marginalization, more and more singles, especially women, have started to embrace their status, not as much as a resignation of love but as a conscious decision of their true nature : singles at heart.

Individualism in postmodernity

Time change. Very quickly actually. In our postmodernity one of the main characteristics is individualism together with a certain hedonist feeling in which the main aim is to enjoy without complicating too much our lives. Zygmunt Bauman, a very influential contemporary sociologist used to call it the liquid modernity or late modernity. A term understood as the revolution of the information societies and capitalism in which human beings adapt to the new realities in the same way than liquid adapts to any new recipient.

According to the cover in The New York Magazine dedicated to women, Single women « are now the most potent political force in America ».

In that sense, the magazine forsees that single women will have a high impact on the coming elections as they will fight for their visibility and the gender inequalities in job environments, minimum salary, etc.

The author of the article of The New York Magazine points out that the historical times during which single women had more strength are closely related to the strongest social progress.

Ladies, this might be your time !