
Sex and the Single Woman
24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic
- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Sex and the Single Woman
24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic
About this book
One of Bustle's Best Books of May
A feminist anthology inspired by legendary Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Girl, featuring twenty-four new essays on the triumphs and heartbreaks of modern singlehood from acclaimed and bestselling authors, including Kristen Arnett, Morgan Parker, Evette Dionne, and Melissa Febos.
Sixty years ago, Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl sent shockwaves through the United States, selling more than two million copies in three weeks. Helen’s message was radical for its time: marriage wasn’t essential for women to lead rich, fulfilling lives.
Now, in these critical, wry, and expansive essays, twenty-four writers reconsider Helen’s advice and how it applies to their own paths, fielding topics that she couldn’t—or wouldn’t—conceive of in 1962: contraception and abortion (an omission demanded by her publisher), queer and trans womanhood, polyamory, celibacy, interracial dating, bodies of all kinds, consent, sex work, IVF, and the pop culture that both saves and fails us.
Eliza Smith and Haley Swanson’s revisionist anthology honors Brown’s irreverent spirit while also validating our modern experiences of singlehood, encouraging us all to reclaim joy where it’s so often been denied.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction: Eliza Smith and Haley Swanson
- Her Voice: Brooke Hauser
- When a Man Isn’t a Man: Samantha Allen
- The “Straight” Girl: Shayla Lawson
- In Pursuit of Brown-on-Brown Love: Jennifer Chowdhury
- IVF and the Single Girl: Evette Dionne
- Thank U, Ex: Rosemary Donahue
- Party of One: Josie Pickens
- Confessions of a Lonely Feminist: Nichole Perkins
- Are You Having Sex?: Natalie Lima
- Queers Respecting Queers: Kristen Arnett
- Big Second-Wife Energy: Minda Honey
- Loved Out Loud: Keah Brown
- A New Kind of Heroine: Laura Bogart
- Sex and the Single Frump: Briallen Hopper
- Girl Meets Purity Culture: Giaae Kwon
- The Animal Within the Animal: Melissa Febos
- Self-Help: Morgan Parker
- Once, a White Guy: Tiana Clark
- Sober with a Big O: Tawny Lara
- Second Coming: Kate Crawford
- If I’m Lonely: Vanessa Friedman
- The Greatest Pleasure: Xoài Phạm
- Apartment: Seema Reza
- Tied, Tethered, Unfettered, Free: Melissa Faliveno
- Acknowledgments
- About the Editors
- About the Contributors
- Praise
- Copyright
- About the Publisher