Summary of All the Single Ladies: by Rebecca Traister | Includes Analysis

By Instaread Summaries

Summary of All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister | Includes Analysis

 

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All the Single Ladies is an examination of the role of marriage in the lives of women in the United States today and a historical accounting of how the institution arrived at its

• Language: English
• Publisher: Instaread, Inc
• Release date: May 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781683781332

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Overview

All the Single Ladies is an examination of the role of marriage in the lives of women in the United States today and a historical accounting of how the institution arrived at its current juncture. Following an academic investigation into the state of marriages for American women in the past, Traister describes the ways women are reclaiming the institution on their own terms—or avoiding it altogether.

For centuries, the history of marriage has been a tale of female subjugation. Forced into marriages at an early age, women forfeited virtually all of their rights: to education, to work, and even to legal personhood as an individual entity apart from their husbands. Throughout history, it was rare for women to avoid the inevitability of marriage and, in most cases, motherhood. However, some managed to do so thanks to unique and unusual circumstances. Queen Elizabeth I is a famous example.

American society and its legal framework are increasingly offering women the option to choose either marriage or a single lifestyle. Rather than having a forced reliance on a husband for financial security, women have entered the workplace in record numbers and can select a spouse for their own reasons and at their own pace. In the past, women lacked access to contraception and legal abortions, which meant that they were often tied to