In 2021, 52 percent of American women were unmarried or separated—a record-breaking number. (Rawlstock / Getty Images) |
BY ERIKA FELIX | JD Vance’s incendiary comments about the Democratic Party being run by “miserable” single “childless cat ladies” has struck a major nerve. Political contests incentivize wild claims by people like Vance who are desperate for attention and power. In response, defenses in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris point out that she is a parent because of her stepchildren, which puts her in the same class as George Washington, a founding stepfather.
There’s less attention defending those of us who truly are single cat ladies. Nearly 20 years ago, social scientists Bella DePaulo and Wendy Morris aptly described singlism: the prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination toward singles. Since their article, the number of single households has only been growing. Instead of ignoring or making fun of us single people, listen to us.
Singlism is not partisan. The stereotypes singlism engenders make many policies and practices across parties unjust. I saw this during the pandemic when many public health guidances and policies failed to reflect the reality of the 27.6 percent of single-person households.
Living alone during the pandemic was neither better nor worse than living with others, but the degree of isolation was exponentially different. We had to contend with what to do in case of illness and were frustrated by an exclusionary public narrative. Still, there were also benefits, such as not having to engage in caregiving, reduced risk of infection or transmission, and not having to adapt to others. (Click here to read more) |
