The single woman and the fairytale prince - Jean-Claude Kaufmann

The number of one-person households is rising steeply all over theworld and a growing proportion of these 'new singles' are women. Itis estimated that one woman in three lives on her own. Thisdevelopment reflects general social trends, ranging from risingdivorce rates to the growing professionalization of women and theirdissatisfaction with a traditional model that offers them a futureorganized solely around 'husband-baby-home'. At the same time, theattractions of that model still linger and the fairytale prince isby no means a figure from a story or a remote past. Even in an agein which the internet promises that love is 'just a click away',many women still wait for their prince to come.

Jean-Claude Kaufmann's sympathetic study of the lives,aspirations and sometimes despair of the 'new single women' isbased mainly on an analysis of a sample of the hundreds of letterssent to Marie-Claire magazine after it published a first-handaccount of the single life. Funny, touching and at times profoundlysad, the letters paint a collective portrait of the single womanand her life that is both intimate and socially significant.Kaufmann concludes by situating their stories in a broadcomparative context and considering the possible impact of novelphenomena such as the recent vogue for 'mail-order brides'.