The Spinster Stereotype: A Demographic Refutation?

Abstract

Data on Australia's older single women are assembled into a demographic profile to question the legitimacy of the prevailing negative spinster stereotype and to make comparisons with US trends in the status of single women'. The socioeconomic status (SES) of single and married women in Melbourne is analysed and it is subsequently argued that high SES single women have satisfying careers which may provide them with a stable source of identity, but some lower SES single women lack this source and may assume the spinster identity as the only clearly defined role available to them.