Single and Psycho : Caroline Young on how pop culture created the unstable single woman

A lively, sharp and thought-provoking exploration of the enduring stereotype of the dangerous single woman in popular culture.

From the single ladies of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift songs to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's irreverent television series Fleabag (2016–2019) to as far back as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, the stereotype of the damaged single woman has long pervaded music, books, television, and Hollywood movies. Spinster tropes, witch burnings, and nineteenth-century diagnoses of hysteria have reflected and continue to inform the stories told about society's singletons, most notoriously in the bunny boiler.

Caroline Young explores how single women have so often been portrayed as unstable, dangerous, or incomplete. Blending cultural criticism with her own personal experience, Young examines how these stereotypes have been shaped by broader social trends, including the antifeminist backlash of the 1980s and the current renaissance of the ‘trad-wife’.

Through her analysis of books, movies, and TV shows, she reveals how these narratives reflect deeper anxieties about women’s independence. Engaging, witty, fun and feminist, Single and Psycho is a timely critique of how society views single women – and a celebration of their complexity and resilience.

Caroline Young is the author of several books, including The It Girls: Glamor, Celebrity, and Scandal, Hitchcock’s Heroines, and Crazy Old Ladies: The Story of Hag Horror, which was nominated for both the Rondo Hatton Award and Richard Wall Memorial Award.