In 2010, award-winning journalist Rebecca Traister started a book that she thought would be about the twenty-first-century phenomenon of the American single woman. Over the course of her research, 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. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a "dramatic reversal." Traister sets out to examine how this generation of independent women is changing the world. This is a remarkable portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman. Covering class, race, and sexual orientation, and filled with vivid anecdotes from fascinating contemporary and historical figures, this book is destined to be a classic work of social history and journalism.--Adapted from dust jacket.

A note on interviews and attribution -- Introduction -- 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 -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Where are they now?.