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Single Living
n the closely-knit rural society before the turn of the century, an unmarried adult was rare. The reason for any person"s single status had to be an unfortunate one. Those who chose not to marry were considered abnormal, career obsessed, or homosexual. Those whose hands were never sought were lonely losers unattractive, handicapped, deviant.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the conventional conception of the unmarried person as a lonely loser began to yield to a new conception -- the swinging single. Apartment complexes in urban centers advertised a lifestyle organized around the swimming pool and clubroom featuring nightly cocktail parties and the imagination that everyone paired off by bedtime. Magazines such as PLAYBOY and PENTHOUSE,PLAYGIRL and VIVA enhanced the image of this new single life. News magazines ran features that assumed that a rapidly growing proportion of the population would remain permanently single.
The idea gained credibility from two facts: First, the number of unmarried adults in the United States increased from 12.9 million in 1960 to 25.6 million two decades later. Second, the median age at the time of marriage, a figure that had declined steadily from 1900 to 1960, began to climb again:
increasing numbers of young adults are delaying their first marriage to their late twenties or early thirties.
Whether or not a new lifestyle of permanent single hood is emerging, substantial numbers of people are living it, at least temporarily. But contrary to the media view, there is no one lifestyle for singles. Most singles have a surprisingly orthodox lifestyle that focuses on finding a place to live, attempting to find a satisfying job, and seeking friends, dates, and ultimately a more permanent relationship. Only in fairly large cities do you find special facilities catering to singles. In fact in smaller communities there are still examples of prejudice against single adults by employers and landlords who regard the whole group as irresponsible and wild.
单身生活
本世纪以前，在人际关系密切的农村社会中，一个未婚成年人是罕见的。任何人单身必有其不幸的原因。那些选择不结婚的人会被人认为是异类、工作狂或同性恋。那些从未被人追求过的是孤寂的失败者…—一没有吸引力，有缺陷，举止异常。
在20世纪60年代末至70年代初，未婚者是孤寂的失败者这一传统观念已开始被一种新的观念所取代——即时髦单身。都市中心的公寓大楼宣扬一种以游泳池和夜总会为核心的生活方式，这种方式的特点为夜夜鸡尾酒会，并想象应入睡时，人们成双成对地离去。像《花花公子》、《阁楼》、《风尘女子》、《万岁呼唤》等杂志更大肆渲染这种新的单身生活方式。新闻类杂志刊登特写，认为永远单身的人口比例将迅速增长。
这一想法是基于以下两个事实：第一，美国未婚成年人的数目从1960年的1290万增加到1980年的2560万。第二，结婚的平均年龄从1900年至1960年稳步下降，而现在又开始上升。越来越多的年轻人把他们的初婚年龄推迟到二十八、九岁或三十一、二岁。
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