It's Spinster-ific!

My post the other day on remaining child-free and loving it got a couple of panties in a bunch, didn't it? I'm not married either, which continues to be shocking to those that are. As it happens, my friend the Dee-light-ful Lady M. wrote the Manifesto below when she was *gasp* single. Lady M blogs on, although now she is married - and one of the funniest and most amazing people I know. Okay, it's true that Hapa Boy has made me a happy woman. But there's no ring on my finger that isn't from the Lady M's talented hubby at Dave Sheely Designs (go ahead, buy one), so the Manifesto still applies, and in my opinion, it can't be said enough. In fact, I once said a much less witty form of it here:

The Spinster Manifesto

(c) 2001 Mary T. Helmes/halfmadspinster.com (that URL now defunct)

We have a right to be female, over 30, and single.

We have the right to be female, over 30, and single, without being considered in possession of some fatal character flaw.

We have the right to make male friends.

We have the right to keep male friends even after they are married.

We have the right to make male friends even if they are married.

We do not have the right to sleep with married men.

We have the right to express genuine interest in and knowledge of other human beings without it being automatically interpreted as some kind of desperate sexual interest.

We have the right to have protected sex with a consensual partner without being married.

We have the right to own cats.

We have the right to express love for our friends, nieces, nephews and pets without it being construed as some pathetic attempt to replace the children we do not have ourselves.

We have the right to have our own children.

We have the right to buy our own furniture, clothing, china, electronics, cars and trips without being looked upon as selfish, frivolous, or boastful.

We have the right to rent whatever movie we wish.

We have a right to shower for as long as we want, unless there’s a water shortage on.

We have the right to break up with people we deem unsuitable without being admonished to not be so “picky” at our age.

We have a right to be picky.

We have the right to look our age.

We have the right to not act our age.

We have the right never to hear the expressions “How come you’re not married?” or “Tick tick tick tick tick tick.”

We have the right to express our wish to someday have a marriage, children or any combination thereof.

We have a right to proudly reclaim the word Spinster, to uphold and forge this brave new identity, to embrace our singleness, to live our lives fully, and to never let our human expression be characterized as a paraphrased offshoot of the male experience with words such as “bachelorette.”

We have a right to live wherever we want, even if it’s somewhere where it “might not be easy to meet someone.”

We have a right to stay home on Friday night.

We have a right to go out any night we choose.

We have a right to turn down dates.

We have a right to stay single forever.

We have a right to get married whenever we want.

We have a right to live as valid human beings, no matter what the choice.