Another Singles Week has come and gone, and that has gotten me thinking about the kind of year it has been. With regard to single people and their representation in society and in science, what do you see as some of the highs and lows since September of 2009? Here are some of my nominations, plus a few observations from Wendy Wasson.

Some Highs

• Yesterday, Elena Kagan donned the black judicial robe of the Supreme Court for the first time. With Sonia Sotomayor also on the Court, there are now 2 justices who are single.
• There have been good-news stories from the research world, and the media actually noticed some of them. Research showing that men and women who have always been single are doing fine attracted a lot of attention and my own article on the 8 myths of being single got featured on the home page of Yahoo.
• Demographically, the dominant trend is "up with single people." The latest Census Bureau report shows that the number of single people continues to increase along with the number of 1-person households, and that households without a married couple outnumber those with one for the fifth year in a row. My hope is that the more singles become a force demographically, the harder it will be for the singlism to persist unchallenged.
• In a story in the New York Times about the 100 things a restaurant staffer should never do, this one came in at #2: "Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, ‘Are you waiting for someone?'"
• The Associated Press made it clear that not all the single ladies want to put a ring on it.
• The cover of the March 2010 issue of More magazine teased a feature story with the heading, "SINGLE AND LOVING IT."
• Every 10 years, the Journal of Marriage and Family publishes an important set of papers in their "Decade in Review" issue. The 2010 article on "Partnering across the life course" acknowledged on the first page that for some, marriage "may not even be a desired goal." (Did you think that of course this sort of thing has been recognized for decades? Not so.)
• In a cover story in the New York Times Magazine about how young adults are taking longer to reach conventional milestones, the reporter noted that some people do not check off the conventional boxes because they "are single or childless by choice." (Yes, I realize that the word "childless" is itself controversial.)
• Scholarly research on singles and singlism is slowing showing up across disciplines and appearing in conference papers, journal articles, books, and textbooks.
• Another important point was best stated by Wendy Wasson of My Single Space when I asked her what she had to say about the year's bests:

  "In my opinion the best thing that has happened is that singles are talking a lot more about what it really is to be single- as evidenced by the increasing number of websites and blogs devoted to single living. Particularly significant are the discussions generated on the Living Single Blog- where assumptions and stereotypes about ‘singleness' are continually examined. My favorite challenges have included: 1) That singles are either lonely and/or loners. Instead research suggesting that many singles have a ‘diversified relationship portfolio' that may include friends, relatives, intimate friendships, cats and dogs, teams that we play or work with, children, nieces and nephews, and communities we contribute to. 2) The perception of ‘singles' as a homogeneous group- distinguishing ‘single at heart,' from ‘single and open to romance,' singles who want children, singles who don't, etc. Developing a respect for authentic choices and authentic living, that will become ‘equally protected' by laws."