spinster

using spinster turns something that is only one part of a person's life (being single) into the entirety of the person; references to marital status are usually unnecessary. When they are necessary, use an adjective instead of a noun: single. Avoid "unmarried" and "unwed" because they perpetuate the marriage-as-norm stereotype (that marriage somehow confers validity). Historically, single women enjoyed more civil powers than married women who were dependent upon and secondary to their husbands. Note the nonparallel connotations of the supposedly parallel terms "spinster" and "bachelor" (and was there ever an "eligible spinster" as there are "eligible bachelors"?). Women go from bachelor girl to spinster to old maid but men are bachelors forever. See also bachelor, celibate, maiden aunt, old maid, single, spinsterhood.