Abstract
Interviews are reported in which heterosexual women construct unmarried status as a temporary stage, preparatory to marriage, or the consequence of failure to maintain heterosexual relationships. Remaining single in later life is constructed as a threat, and older single women are constructed as lonely and isolated. Women construct themselves as responsible for the ending of past relationships, and report having been held to account in this way by significant others. It is argued that these accounts reflect the discourses of heterosexual romantic quest, and the gendered division of emotional labour in marriage. Participants' accounts are characterized by heterosexism and ageism, and the authors discuss issues of collusion with these in the collection of data.
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