The New Single Woman

INTRODUCTION ix CHAPTER 1 "We Don't Have to Settle": Soul Mates and Singleness 1(19) CHAPTER 2 Sex and the Single Woman 20(33) CHAPTER 3 Crafting Singular Lives 53(35) CHAPTER 4 "Nobody's Wife, Nobody's Mother, Nobody's Lover": Obstacles to Building a Satisfying Single Life 88(27) CHAPTER 5 Becoming a Whole Person: Autonomy and Long-Term Singleness 115(32) CHAPTER 6 "Will I End Up as a Bag Lady?" Childless Single Women 147(21) CHAPTER 7 Without a Dad: Single Women as Mothers 168(34) CHAPTER 8 The Cultural Divide and Social Continuum between Single and Married Women 202(27) CHAPTER 9 Friendship Networks as a Source of Community and Care 229(25) CONCLUSION Challenging the Soul-Mate Ideal 254(9) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 263(4) NOTES 267(28) WORKS CITED 295(15) INDEX 310