This week I begin an occassional series where I ask an author, marketing executive, politician...or consumer to join me on the blog for a chat.
Today Andrea Learned discusses her growing interest in "solohood." This trend goes by many names. Just a few decades ago, we still used the word "spinster" to define women who had actively chosen not to be married. Then it was the "single woman."
But "solohood" fits better because for one thing it's not gendered. It also comes with few roles and stereotypes--it's a blank slate upon which we can write new ways of living. Plus it allows everyone in from young women who are choosing to not marry--although they may be in committed long-term relationships--to widows and divorced women.
For marketers, "solohood" is a huge opportunity. But only if they get the idea that these women--and yes men--require a different attitude toward them. The world is no longer one big happy nuclear family--no matter how much some people try to take us back to a time that frankly most historians think never really existed. Today the concept of family is expanding--and that's a great thing.
So welcome Andrea, author of "Don't Think Pink." You can catch her blog at http://learned.typepad.com/.
FW: Not too long ago, single women were painted with the brush of "spinsterhood" if they hadn't married. Today, solo women are growing force in the economy and society. What is driving this shift from "singlehood" being a negative to solo being such a positive?
AL: Solo women are newly empowered. We have the choice to not marry or simply marry later. Divorce rates are higher (for a variety of reasons), and women are no longer rushing to remarry. And, rather than resigning themselves to traditional, isolated or inactive widowhood, women who lose their husbands in their more senior years are now more actively living the extra 7-8 years of life they tend to have over men.
Today, self-reliant single women can more easily climb a corporate ladder, commit to as much higher education as they desire, and basically live lives full of experiences for themselves. They are not waiting for "Mr. Right" in order to get on with life. They buy homes at almost twice the rate of single men, and they have no problem traveling alone. Though it is by no means fun, solo women have more of the support and tools to raise kids alone, as well.
Read the rest of interview. I know in the blogosphere this is a long blog--but Andrea has great things to say about the myths of single women and the brands that are beginning to understand "solohood."
Continue reading "From Spinsters to Solo-ists: A Talk with Andrea Learned" »
