Single Women- Choice or Chance?

The Singleton has emerged as a distinct social category in the rapidly changing Kerala society.  The present study attempts to show the change from Spinster to Singleton and the generation differentials of single women in Kerala, India. The study also made an attempt to find out the factors that led women of Kerala to singlehood they have in their unique life style.

            The focus of the study is single women of two generations, 225 spinsters and 225 singletons. Single women from three districts- Thiruvanathapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode constituted the sample for the study. The different aspects of the singlehood were collected with the help of Interview schedule and the scale developed was used for measuring adjustment of the single women. The economic theory of Marx, Women’s economic empowerment theory of Blumberg, Dramaturgical model of role theorists, Becker’s labelling theory of deviance, Michalo’s Multiple-discrepancy theory are the theoretical framework of the study.

            The analysis of the study reveals that there is difference between spinsters and singletons in all background variables and dependent variables. The findings of the study shows that the motivational factors-chance and choice of single women in two generations.  Single women, who selected singlehood by their own choice and singletons with high expectations, have low level of life satisfaction, even though they have high adjustability in their life.

KEYWORDS

            Single Women, Spinsters, Singletons, Generation Differentials.