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1928: "In this happy future, no old maid need look under the bed for a man, in vain." Instead she'll buy a custom robot to warm her bed - which is obviously better than no man at all. [PaleoFuture] More »
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As a teenager, I was obsessed with spinsters. I modeled myself after Stevie Smith, Marianne Moore and Barbara Pym, was known to sport gloves and vintage hats and, if you're wondering who's the proud owner of the handle "Spinster@aol.com," look no further. I remember relishing the choice of a wholly asexual persona, and loving the notion that these were women who had actually opted for a certain independence that was so much more than just settling for singlehood. Naturally I was intrigued then by Blogher's "Search for Cinematic Spinsters." The author, a self-described spinster, identifies the spinster archetype and its essentially negative stereotype — the bitter, dried up old maid so often seen in movies — but goes on to find that it is more nuanced than that. And as a 16-year-old me could have told her, there are far worse role models. More »
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This weekend, MTV aired a documentary about "Southern belles" that kind of freaked out this Northeastern Jezebel. It's shocking that, in 2008, educated women feel like old maids at 24 years old, yet refuse to ask men out on dates. Such is the case with Leigh Ann, who says her greatest fear in life is becoming a crazy old cat lady (despite the fact that she already seems to be one). It's also shocking that an 18-year-old girl like Raini could use so much hairspray and wear so much makeup and fuddy duddy outfits that she looks closer to 50 than 20. Clip above. More »
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