All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation - Paperback

by Rebecca Traister (Author)

* NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2016 SELECTION * BEST BOOKS OF 2016 SELECTION BY THE BOSTON GLOBE * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * NPR * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY *

The New York Times bestselling investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of women is "an informative and thought-provoking book for anyone--not just the single ladies--who want to gain a greater understanding of this pivotal moment in the history of the United States" (The New York Times Book Review).

In 2009, award-winning journalist Rebecca Traister started All the Single Ladies about the 21st century phenomenon of the American single woman. It was the year the proportion of American women who were married dropped below 50%; and the median age of first marriages, which had remained between 20 and 22 years old for nearly a century (1890-1980), had risen dramatically to 27.

But over the course of her vast research and more than a hundred interviews with academics and social scientists and prominent single women, Traister discovered a startling truth: the phenomenon of the single woman in America is not a new one. And historically, when women were given options beyond early heterosexual marriage, the results were massive social change--temperance, abolition, secondary education, and more. Today, only 20% of Americans are married by age 29, compared to nearly 60% in 1960.

"An informative and thought-provoking book for anyone--not just single ladies" (The New York Times Book Review), All the Single Ladies is a remarkable portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the unmarried American woman. Covering class, race, sexual orientation, and filled with vivid anecdotes from fascinating contemporary and historical figures, "we're better off reading Rebecca Traister on women, politics, and America than pretty much anyone else" (The Boston Globe).