Wish You Were Her? ; Once, the Single Woman Was More to Be Pitied Than Admired. But, Post- Bridget Jones, a New Phenomenon Is Beginning to Emerge, As Smug Marrieds Are Forced to Wonder: 'Did I Really Make the Right Choice?' Shane Watson Discovers Singleton Envy

Mail on Sunday › January 31, 2005

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Summary

It's a funny thing, being single. For a long time the manless were pitied and patronised. Then single women became an amusing curiosity and anyone who wasn't part of the growing trend wanted to know all about the Bridget Jones generation, our hangovers, disastrous affairs and comical struggles to keep it all together. But a few years down the line and all that has suddenly changed.

We single women have had time (in my case, the whole of this century) to get it together, adjust to our situation and discover all the advantages of being answerable to nobody. Meanwhile, our non- single sisters are long past the honeymoon phase and are a little less confident that they are the ones who have got it right. The truth is that, while in fiction it's the hapless Bridget who's every girl's best friend, back in the real world singles have become the object of other women's envy. In the space of half a decade we've gone from being life's losers to an irritating reminder of how things could be if you were still footloose, with an acre of bed all to yourself and an entire salary to spend on fruit juicers and knickers that tie with a bow at the back.

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Extract

Wish You Were Her? ; Once, the Single Woman Was More to Be Pitied Than Admired. But, Post- Bridget Jones, a New Phenomenon Is Beginning to Emerge, As Smug Marrieds Are Forced to Wonder: 'Did I Really Make the Right Choice?' Shane Watson Discovers Singleton Envy

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all the married women I know are gnashing their teeth wishing they had my life. Frankly, most of them would rather stick pins in their eyes. But the fact is that we live in a culture where being able to suit yourself is the ultimate goal, and where bliss is not a happy marriage and healthy children, but two weeks in...

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