What is it about the unmarrieds these days, and particularly unwed women pining for wedding-like fêtes of their own?

A few weekends ago in the Guardian, Professor Sarah Churchwell confronted the ghost of Bridget Jones and the persistent stereotype of the dismal singleton.

In a poll of 2,000 women in their mid-20s, 78% said that the ideal age for marriage is 26, and having kids a year later. 10 years ago, the ideal age was in one's 30s. What the hell happened?

BoingBoing's Lisa Katayama writes of a woman in San Francisco who walked into a restaurant, requested a table for two, and unfolded a three-foot cardboard cutout of a man, with whom she had dinner. Art project? Maybe. Or: Loneliness.

Former Gawker editor Doree Shafrir's story in today's New York Observer is about being an unmarried woman. Or more precisely, what people think of unmarried women. She writes:

Despite the prevailing stereotype that women live in a candy-colored fantasy world with unrealistic relationship expectations, a new book by "playboy" Carl Weisman says that over 30% of confirmed bachelors avoid marriage because they "won't settle for anything less than perfection," reports Reuters. Weisman's book, So…

Hey, freemales! Yes, you, single ladies. In addition to being a stain the fabric of society by not being married, you are ruining the entire planet. According to a story in today's Guardian, energy conservation goals are being fouled up by "singletons." In its publication called Social Trends, the UK's Office for…

Ah, the holidays. Time to see family, and, if you're single, hear those words that may cause you to feel, as we say, stabby: "Why aren't you married yet?" But it's not just meddling mothers who ask — friends who've tied the knot can be even worse. Reports the San Jose Mercury News, the "smug marrieds" are just one of…

This summer, the New York Observer has been re-running Candace Bushnell's Sex And The City columns from 1995. We've thought about asking them why, but we know they'll just say something about how "they're as relevant now as they were then" when we know the answer is really, "so we don't have to pay anyone to write…

• China is creating a female-run district where women make all the decisions and men have to wash the dishes. [Salon]
• Nestle to buy baby-food company Gerber for $5.5 billion, giving Nestle "the leadership position in baby food." We're sure the thousands of moms in Third World countries whose babies died as a result of…