When I first taught a course on Singles in Society, students kept a collection all semester of interesting tidbits about portrayals of singles in the media, personal experiences (good or bad) living single, examples of singlism, strokes of enlightenment, and anything else that would contribute to our understanding of singles in society.
When I first taught a course on Singles in Society, students kept a collection all semester of interesting tidbits about portrayals of singles in the media, personal experiences (good or bad) living single, examples of singlism, strokes of enlightenment, and anything else that would contribute to our understanding of singles in society. We all liked the term Singles Collection because it suggested something fashionable and always updated.
I kept all of the items the students found, and some made it into Singled Out. Each blog post here is, in a sense, an item in a Singles Collection. Starting with today's post, I'm starting something new. Now and then I will list, with only brief comments from me, a number of items that have caught my attention. I'm doing this because there is just so much to share with you that I can't keep up if I try to write separate posts on each topic.
I also want to mention that I have a list of topics that readers of this post have asked me to write about. For those, I will try to devote individual posts to each. There is a backlog, so if you have sent me questions and you are becoming weary of waiting, just e-mail me a polite prod (or leave it in the Comments section).
Okay, here are today's wardrobe pieces:
• Guess who is now 50 and has always been single? That's right, it's Barbie! Even all those Wedding Barbie fantasy clothes couldn't seal the deal with Ken.
• Bonus: When I found that great post about the ever-single Barbie, it also led me to another website about the single life, First Person Singular.
• Has anyone ever intimated that because you are single, you must be lesbian or gay? (And have they also implied that somehow, that would be a bad thing?) If so, you have company - Kelly Clarkson! (Hat tip to Diane Mapes for that one.)
• And speaking of Diane Mapes, because the print version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has folded, her wonderful Single Shot column has come to its end. That is just so sad, because Diane, in addition to being smart and insightful, is also LOL funny. We can still follow her on her website, Single Shot Seattle. (Diane is also the editor of the anthology, Single State of the Union.)
• Earlier this month, Leanne Shapton of the New York Times opened an article with a story about "a lovely date" she had in London - it was a date with a book, alone in a restaurant in London. I loved that! Next, she told the story of a writer who was asked about his favorite dinner companion. His answer? "One of the great joys is to go to a restaurant you can't afford and sit and eat with a book." Inspired, Shapton asked other authors about the books they were taking to dinner. It is a fun read, not just for the stories and the book recommendations, but also for the buried lede - this is an article in the New York Times about famous authors dining solo. (Two thumbs down for the author who didn't get it and discussed what he was reading and eating while his wife surfed Facebook.)
• That reminds me. When I wrote about a mystery featuring a great single detective, I asked for suggestions for "the Real Singles in Fiction book club. Toss aside all of those books out there featuring ditzy chicks or horny, slovenly bachelors." Some nominations were posted in the Comments section. If you want to post others to the Comments section of this post, I'll add them to the list I'm compiling and post it later.
Here are a few more singles voices, posts, and observations:
• Look at this great singlism catch at Mike Mennonno's Mennonno Sapiens.
• Lisa and Christina from Onely (frequent commentors to this post) wrote a terrific guest post for the blog, Professor, What If. Their "what if" question? What if married people were treated like singles?
• Last time I listed some new singles-relevant sites I had discovered, readers added some other suggestions. Singlutionary recommended Not Married and Not Bothered. Rachel, of Rachel's Musings and another active participant in the Living Single discussions, suggested Unmarried Estate. And two more: The Special K Treatment and Dazzlingly Single.
Happy reading - and eating!
