Why There Are No Good Men Left
The Romantic Plight of the New Single Woman
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A hard-hitting, groundbreaking exploration of the new mating conditions that are changing the face of love, commitment, and marriage as we know it.
A double revolution is at work in modern American love: A revolution in higher education has created the most professionally accomplished and independent generation of young women in history, and a revolution in mating has created a prolonged and perplexing search for Mr. Right. Based on extensive research and interviews, Why There Are No Good Men Left explores the romantic plight of this high-status woman with findings that are sure to rouse debate.
Cultural historian, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead documents the new social climate in which the demands of work, the epidemic of cohabitation, the disappearance of courtship, and the exacting standards of educated women are leading them to stay single longer–and to find the search for a mate even harder when the time is right. From the frontlines of college, where dating is dead, to the trenches of corporate solitude, Whitehead reports on a wholesale shift that has stacked the marriage deck against the best and brightest women.
The thirty-something, perplexed single woman is today’s new cultural icon. Why There Are No Good Men Left is the first book to take a serious approach to analyzing where she came from and to ask how she can realize her dreams of lasting love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite its clich d title, this absorbing volume goes far beyond a superficial examination of the current dating scene for single women. It delves deeply into how dating and commitment differ from times past and the effects those changes are having on women and our culture. The author, whose previous book, The Divorce Culture, looked at a related social phenomenon, here makes a strong case for a phenomenon she calls the "Girl Project," a social "project" that has succeeded in preparing young women for adult lives of economic self-sufficiency, social independence, and sexual liberation, which began in 1972 when Title IX broke down major sex discrimination barriers and has had great success since then. Whitehead rightly argues that women today are operating in new social circumstances, in which they delay marriage until college or, sometimes, graduate school is finished and a career is established. This woman "embodies a new model of success based on educational and professional achievement," but, says Whitehead, the choices she makes in her 20s and 30s sometimes make finding a mate difficult. In exploring recent social changes that have made a strong and lasting impact, Whitehead highlights possible developments, such as online dating, that may replace traditional cultural systems. Her engaging cultural assessment, while not novel, sheds light on a current problem many women now face.