"Sex and the Single Girl:" why you should read this book

In the 1960s Helen Gurley Brown made it cool to be a single girl. Living by yourself, dating men, having sex before marriage... all thanks to Mrs. Brown. Have you heard of a little magazine called Cosmopolitan? She was the editor-in-chief for YEARS and turned the magazine from a failing family magazine to the premier women's magazine.

If this book was written in the '60s, why should we pay attention to it 50 years later? Because I think that we've lost the single girl spirit. With shows like "The Bachelor" and "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels" the strong, empowered female has gone by the wayside to the husband obsessed skank. Those girls are not looking for love, they're looking for a husband, someone to pamper them and f*ck them, but not someone to love and to care for.

Mrs. Brown rocked the world when she said that it was alright to have sex outside of marriage. She also said it was okay to have sex with a married man. These things were happening (it was the "Mad Men" era) and she spoke out, said yes, we do this, everyone does and ITS OKAY.

I've been looking this book over again and realize that while I was reading "He's Just Not that Into You" I really should have saved myself $15 and read a book I already owned.. Mrs. Brown is blunt, says you're ugly, and then says it doesn't matter, because beauty comes from the inside. The book is written like she's speaking to her best friend who trusts her opinion the most and she's not afraid of hurting you feelings.

Do yourself a favor, visit the library or go to your favorite bookstore, get this book and read it cover to cover. It might be going on 50 years old, but it still holds true, despite a few outdated references.

"Mad Men" and the other woman

I've been watching "Mad Men" on On Demand.  It's one of those shows that I never got to see before but always wanted to watch.  I love the idea of the fifties and early sixties: the hair, the clothes, the culture.  Everyone (at least on the show) is so put together, it's dazzling.  I love the idea of drinking at work, with the boss, in broad daylight, before you meet with a client.  Does anyone do that anymore?  (when did alcohol become bad again?) The whole show reminds me of "The Seven Year Itch" with Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell.

The idea that every successful man has two-point-five kids in the suburbs with a beautiful housewife, and a regular mistress in the city, preferably a working girl with income that he doesn't have to support, and the possibility for tail at every corner.  Those were the days (at least for men).

The whole thing gets me thinking, who has the more fulfilling life?  The housewives go to therapy and are worried that their husbands are unfaithful, but the "other women" know the shakedown, they know how it's gonna be.  They support themselves, and have fun.

Of course, there are drawbacks to being the "other woman," but the social structure is much different these days.  Being a single girl, not in a relationship, really makes you the "other woman."  I feel like the "other woman" these days.  Every guy I smile at, he could be married, or engaged, or living with someone, or have a girlfriend that he doesn't live with, or gay but no man is single (and strait).

A single girl, supporting herself, living alone, paying her own rent, paying her own bills is just a rare as it was fifty years ago.  Women are still being supported, but in a very different way.

I'm a single girl, living in the city, where's my hunky executive, looking for an escape from his wife?  (Just kidding, I want someone all to myself ;) )