Silencing the single woman: Negotiating the ‘failed’ feminine subject in contemporary UK society

Despite a growth in single women in UK society over the past two decades, single femininity continues to be highly stigmatised. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of the heterosexual matrix and applying this to qualitative interview data with 25 single women, I argue that single femininity is produce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSexualities Vol. 26; no. 1-2; pp. 162 - 179
Main Author Gilchrist, Kate R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2023
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Butler, Judith
Femininity
Heteronormativity
Heterosexuality
Resistance
Single women
Subjectivity
singledom
Discourse analysis
feminine subjectivity
lived experience
heterosexual matrix
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Summary:Despite a growth in single women in UK society over the past two decades, single femininity continues to be highly stigmatised. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of the heterosexual matrix and applying this to qualitative interview data with 25 single women, I argue that single femininity is produced as abject through processes of silencing which render the single female a ‘failed’ subject and reinscribe heteronormative coupled femininity. Yet while deeply painful, such ‘failures’ may also be productive, offering moments where the boundaries of heteronormative feminine subjectivity and hierarchies of intimate life are troubled and transformed. This article complicates understandings of stigma and resistance through a nuanced analysis of processes of abjectification and ambivalence.
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ISSN:1363-4607
1461-7382
DOI:10.1177/13634607211041100