All The Single Ladies

by Rebecca Traister

1. In All the Single Ladies, Rebecca Traister posits that this new “epoch of single women” allows women to explore and define adulthood in a myriad of ways, not just through marriage. What were some moments and milestones in your own life that signaled you were becoming an adult?
2. One of the most touching moments in All the Single Ladies is when Traister talks about her grandmother, a scientist turned housewife who eventually became a science teacher.  How did the women who raised you navigate work and family? What was your perception of working women when you were growing up?
3. Traister argues that women’s friendships with one another can set their standards higher for their romantic partners.  How have female friendships impacted you? Are there topics you discuss exclusively with your female friends? Do you have any friends who are your soulmates?
4. Books, TV shows and other fiction were instrumental in shaping Traister’s attitude towards both single and married women. What stories about women, single or married, impacted you growing up? What role models influenced your definition of what it means to be an adult woman?
5. Sweeping technological, medical, and sociological changes over the past century have led to women’s increased mobility and independence.  Which innovations or changes have made you feel more independent?
6. Traister demonstrates that the fight for women’s rights has not been a linear march towards justice, but rather that the level of rights granted to women has fluctuated throughout American history. In today’s political climate, what do you see as the greatest threats to the rights of single women? What can we do to continue moving forward, instead of backward?