Introducing The 'Freemale'

Daily Mail:

The number of single women has hit an all-time high, a study has shown - and most of them aren't looking for love.

They apparently choose to be alone, and rejoice in a life where they can spend time and money as they wish.

This new breed of singleton has been dubbed a 'freemale', because she chooses her freedom over a family.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that 8 per cent of the female population aged between 25 and 44 live alone. This equates to some 690,480 women - double the number of 20 years ago, when there were approximately 345,000.

Read the whole story: Daily Mail

Comments

[1will]

07:42 PM on 06/05/2008

When they are in their 40's they are the "Freemale." When they hit their 50's and 60's they become the "Cat Lady."

[onceler]

05:28 PM on 06/05/2008

just wanted to thank y'all for having a pic of Kylie Minogue's butt up for several days now! really, its greatly appreciated.

[bac]

03:41 PM on 06/06/2008

Very sexy indeed! Now if all 'freemales' had that tight a butt....... :)

[OverCoffee]

08:20 AM on 06/05/2008

Straight, never-married women over 30 or 35 are amazingly dishonest when asked why they opt for being single instead of being married. It ain't because they want to live this way. As my late elderly mother used to say, "it's because no one has asked."

At least, no one they'd consider marriage material. So now we have this ridiculous article that sugar coats a lie and the depressing reality for the multitudes of women who couldn't find a mate.

For the most part, it isn't their 'fault'. Sex has been free and easy since the Pill came became popular four decades ago, and men, being men, won't buy the cow when they can milk for free (another old-fashioned pearl of wisdom likely to piss off many of you) - unless these guys are 'maturing', or in other words, aging and slowing down. Then they leap over women their age to get to much younger women.

The challenge for women is not to lie that they chose their lives of being forever single, but to accept it and move on by giving up the girlhood dream of "they lived happily ever after", and to creating fullfilling lives for themselves. Given the poverty of options and available men, they really have damn few other choices.

[overtheedge]

01:07 PM on 06/05/2008

I wouldn't say that I chose my singleness -- it's just the way life worked out for me. I have no problem accepting that.

And by the way, someone did ask.

[rmetz74]

05:20 PM on 06/05/2008

Sir? You have no idea what you're talking about.

I'm a 33 year old woman who has been asked, several times, and is simply not interested. Many of my female friends are in the same place. We are happy with our lives and relationships as they are, and see no reason to change them to join in a tradition that we've watched go sour for so many friends and relatives.

Read the book 'A History of Marriage'. Until the late 1800's, marriage was an economic arrangement, borne out of necessity. It's only since then that anyone thought it should be associated with love, and that's when divorce rates skyrocketed.

Now that women can support themselves - and their children, if they want them - on their own, many more are choosing not to get married. Many who were married are choosing not to remarry, opting instead to live with friends, or on their own, and are thrilled to have the freedom to do so. It's not rocket science. Salaries go up, marriages go down.

You're operating from some old, vague, bogus ideas.

[wadenelson1]

07:05 PM on 06/04/2008

>rejoice in a life where they can spend time and money as they wish.

Grreaaat! As long as it's not MY money, spend away!

[Furby]

01:10 PM on 06/05/2008

I don't think there's any chance of that happening, by the sounds of it :)

[fcsakes]

04:01 PM on 06/04/2008

Skewed statistics just to cause a ruckus. What will they think of next, bubble gum?

[rmetz74]

06:33 PM on 06/04/2008

I don't know why it would cause a ruckus. And the statistics are right. 2007 was the first year in American history that unmarried women outnumbered married ones, and the numbers are continuing in that direction.

[trollsbwild]

10:12 AM on 06/04/2008

Kylie is Hot!

[LordMoon]

09:12 AM on 06/04/2008

This is also the reason why, fundamentalist Christians and Roman Catholic's are the fastest growing demographic in the United States.

Because they are the only ones having families. In the long run this will have profound political implications to our society.

Prepare for a hard right turn up ahead.

[rigveda]

10:06 AM on 06/04/2008

Exactly - progressives will be outbred in a few generations. :(

[vivela]

11:46 PM on 06/04/2008

I don't think we need to worry too much about this one - there's no guarantee that a fundamentalist eugenics program (or a progressive one) would actually work, and there are plenty of people who don't exactly abide by their parents' social and political platforms, plenty of impressionable children in need of care and guidance, and plenty of other ways to influence the younger generation besides trying to breed our own little soldiers. One could always try to lead by example, advocate for better education, or hand out a leaflet or something. OK, maybe not a leaflet, per se, but you know what I mean - whatever this thing is that we're doing right here, I have heard it said that the young people are available for persuasion through these very channels.

[rmetz74]

06:36 PM on 06/04/2008

Interesting. The couples I know who are having the most kids are gay.

I guess we run in differnet circles :)

[lizr]

03:43 AM on 06/05/2008

LOL- how true!

And they are busy adopting many of the discards from miserable het families.

[provgrays]

08:20 AM on 06/04/2008

All right, the term, "Freemale", implies that the people being discussed are male. It's a non-word, but that's the implication. If another breathless demographic is being invented, then it needs another term.

[brooklyncitizen]

11:51 PM on 06/03/2008

Yes as you get older you realize how "paired up" the world is.....and it is hard to just be who you are if your are on your own. Marriage is not for evryone and neither is parenting... clearly less people should be pairing up than actually do (divorce rates) and a significantly less number should be taking on parenting.

[LiberalBuzz]

10:13 PM on 06/03/2008

The sad thing about it, and it is indeed their choice, is the future results. Certain societies STILL make being married and having many children a part of their society and the women will willingly be a part of it..

As a result slowly but surely things are going to change and one cannot help but wonder if the world will be poorer for it.

[brooklyncitizen]

11:48 PM on 06/03/2008

what's your point?

[johnnyjust]

08:58 PM on 06/03/2008

Boy, that is a small percentage.

[rmetz74]

06:32 PM on 06/04/2008

In fact, 2007 was the first year in American history that unmarried women outnumbered married ones, and the numbers are continuing in that direction.

[rmetz74]

08:41 PM on 06/03/2008

There's nothing new about this - except that corporate America just figured out they're missing a big demographic.

But I think it's great that people are realizing this happens all the time. I live with my boyfriend in a house that we own, I see no need to change anythig about our situation, and I get asked CONSTANTLY when I'm going to get married and have kids already. It makes people incredibly nervous when someone makes different choices.

But please, don't call me a "freemale". That's horrible.

[walk0nwalls]

10:59 PM on 06/03/2008

Yeah it just brings masculine terminology into a feminine domain again and it's just kind of paternalistic and bleh.

To say nothing of the fact that it's blah upon blah upon blah as a term.

[brooklyncitizen]

11:49 PM on 06/03/2008

you aren't a freemale...you live with your bf...the article refers to women that are single and living alone by choice...doesn't mean they are alone in life either.

[Ping]

07:37 AM on 06/04/2008

Yes it does.

[rmetz74]

06:30 PM on 06/04/2008

I guess I'm so "free" that I don't feel bound by the invented definitions of manufactured words.

I'm not following the path society pushes women to follow. I lived for years as a happily single woman. Now I live with someone I love. If we break up, I'll be happily single again. I never got a FreeWoman membership card in the mail, or a request that I send it back.

And you're right, I wasn't alone when I was single. And I'm not any more 'whole' now. (And being single didn't mean love wasn't important to me. It just meant romantic love wasn't my focus. So much for that definition.)