Why people recommend it
Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown is a groundbreaking 1962 cultural phenomenon and bestseller that redefined women's independence, career ambitions, and financial autonomy outside of traditional marriage. On Honestly with Bari Weiss, Bari Weiss brought up the classic work while conversing with Louise Perry about historical shifts in sex culture, noting that the author served as the long-time editor of Cosmopolitan. Mary Harrington appeared on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast to analyze the book's ideological legacy, arguing that it laid the foundational framework for what is now known as girl boss feminism and functioned as a hedonistic project masked by a thin veneer of liberation. On The Book Review, Pamela Paul discussed the book's massive initial impact as a publishing sensation, while guest Moira Weigel examined the historical reception of the text, noting a notoriously scathing review written by Gloria Steinem. Across these discussions, the podcast participants explored how the author's bold messaging altered societal expectations regarding female autonomy, professional ambition, and the evolving cultural definitions of womanhood throughout the twentieth century.
Who recommended it
- Bari Weiss Discussed
- Mary Harrington Discussed
- Pamela Paul Discussed
- Moira Weigel Discussed
Bari Weiss — 2 mentions
“one thing I was thinking about coming into this conversation is Helen Gurley Brown who famously wrote sex and the single girl in 1962”
“one thing I was thinking about coming into this conversation is Helen Gurley Brown who famously wrote sex and the single girl in 1962 and she was the long time editor of Cosmopolitan”
Mary Harrington — 1 mention
“But the feminism which falls out of Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl in the 1960s, which is really the girl boss feminism, is the feminism of Cosmopolitan magazine, and it's really a thin ideological veneer over what is fundamentally, as you say, a hedonistic project.”
Pamela Paul — 1 mention
“Helen Gurley Brown the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine wrote sex and the single girl in 1962 which became a bestseller and a phenomenon”
Moira Weigel — 1 mention
“Gloria dyam writes a really mean review of uh of Sex and the single girl which was Helen Gurley Brown's breakout book in 1962”