Despite growing awareness of feminist sensibilities, single women remain polarized in the popular imagination. Either "old maids" or "power women," they remain defined in relation to men - women who "can't get," or, unnaturally, women who "don't want" a man. Through extensive historical research as well as interviews with dozens of women from San Francisco, London, and Helsinki, Tuula Gordon here forcefully exposes the artificial nature of this perceived dichotomy.

The single woman is mistakenly seen to be a product of the twentieth century. Drawing on figures as diverse as Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, and the Amazons, Gordon brings to light a powerful tradition of single womanhood and calls the "marginality" of single women into question.

Conceptions of "woman" are important in shaping the possibilities and limitations of single women. A heterogeneous group in terms of occupation, ethnic grouping and sexual orientation, the women portrayed in this book serve to emphasize the diversity of single women, while indicating that their societal and cultural integration is still not wholly free of problems.

Tuula Gordon's incisive application of feminist theory further adds to a fascinating and invaluable study of an increasingly significant segment of society.