Singlehood: Transitions within a Gendered World

Abstract

This study draws on the life histories of heterosexual childless individuals who have never married, to explore the more subtle ways that age norms affect the subjective experience of singlehood. Specifically, it examines whether or not it is appropriate to speak of transitions in the experience of singlehood. The data clearly reveal the experience of a transition to singlehood. This transition is represented by a change in self-attributed status that occurs over time and is associated with a cultural timetable for marriage. It marks the experience of “becoming single” that occurs when an individual identifies more with singlehood than with marriage. Moreover, I explore the ways in which singlehood is a gendered experience. The results from this study affirm the applicability of life course theory to the lives of single persons and serve to broaden the definition of the concept “transition” to include those not obviously marked by normative events.