91Èȱ¬

Historian and journalist Zoe Strimpel delves into the archive to explore the surprising history of the 'single'.

Most adults in today’s society expect to be single for a least a period of time. Although normal and natural, the state of being unattached is far from boring, with a rich and diverse history.

Zoe sets out to trace key moments in that history using some extraordinary archive, and in conversation with historians and cultural figures.

She begins with the story of the ‘surplus’ women, made forcibly single by the First World War and 1918 flu pandemic.

In an era when marriage was a universal expectation for young women, how did these women disrupt the stereotype of the ‘barren spinster’? Zoe delves into a unique oral archive in which the women tell their own stories and reflect on their colourful experiences in the interwar years.

She traces the birth of the modern single - from the new urban classes using personal ads to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s, when liberated love seekers of different sexualities took advantage of new freedoms but also encountered new pressures and problems - loneliness in particular.

She discusses the most famous incarnation of the 1990s ‘singleton' - Bridget Jones - with her creator Helen Fielding.

Was Bridget a dated gender caricature, or a realistic depiction of the pressures and pleasures facing 30 something women? And what was it about women's 'biological clocks' that so fascinated the commentariat in the era of Bridget Jones - and Sex and the City?

Finally, Zoe reflects on the opportunities - and chaos - facing singles in the age of Tinder.

Dating apps have brought choice, convenience and speed, but do they also carry risks of exploitation, sexism and abuse?

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan.

First broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 in July 2021.

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