Title: Bachelor Girl: 100 Years of Breaking the Rules -- a Social History of Living Single
Author: Betsy Israel
Publisher: Perennial 2002
Genre: Nonfiction -- Women's Studies; Cultural Studies
Pages: 294
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Nerdy Nonfiction -- Cultural Affairs; Mount TBR; Dusty Bookshelf; Nonfiction Adventure
How I Got It: I own it!
Drawing extensively on primary sources, including private journals, newspaper stories, magazine articles, advertisements, films, and other materials from popular media, Israel paints remarkably vivid portraits of single women -- and the way they were perceived -- throughout the decades. From the nineteenth-century spinsters, of New England to the Bowery girls of New York City, from the 1920s flappers to the 1940s working women of the war years and the career girls of the 1950s and 1960s, single women have fought to find and feel comfortable in that room of their own. One need only look at Bridget Jones and the Sex and the City gang to see that single women still maintain an uneasy relationship with the rest of society -- and yet they radiate an aura of glamour and mystery in popular culture.
One of those books held over from my days as a Women's Studies major. I always meant to get to the this tome, especially since it dealt with women in U.S. History (my concentration). Upon finally reading it years later, I can still say that it held my interest. While some of Israel's "current" references to Sex and the City and Allie McBeal seem very dated in 2013, the meat of the book is a timeless study of the concept of single women in history. Israel goes era by era to give the reader a clear picture of how our attitudes toward single women have and have not changed. Being single is still something of a deformity (just ask any single women of 25 how many times they get asked "when are you getting married?") and yet it is such an integral section of society. I especially loved reading about the various famous examples Israel sprinkles throughout. For example, Florence Nightingale is a fascinating example of a women with aspirations caught by her familial obligations and expectations. A very readable look at a complex societal issue.