Abstract
One of the fastest growing segments of the population, never-married Americans, is also one of the least well understood ... or appreciated. Viewed historically as self-centered, irresponsible sowers of wild oats, they were thought to be redeemed only by marriage, and that as soon as possible. Those few who came to be regarded as permanent “bridesmaids,” regardless of gender, were privately judged exceedingly unfortunate: life lived forever as a lonely bachelor or as an “old maid” spinster was regarded as a most pitiful outcome. To make matters even worse, many were secretly thought to be witless complicitors in their own hapless fate, being somehow personally responsible for this sorry turn of events.
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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
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Shostak, A.B. (1987). Singlehood. In: Sussman, M.B., Steinmetz, S.K. (eds) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7151-3_13
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