single women

Before Beyonce gave them a theme song, before Sex and the City explained their love for shoes, before Liz Lemon demonstrated their chocolate obsession, and before Bridget Jones performed their clumsy dating mishaps, Cathy the cartoon represented stereotypical single women in newspapers every week battling food, love, mom, and work.

Just like any generalized version of something, the Cathy comic strip could make you laugh when you related, but also cringe at the one-dimensional version of an unmarried woman always on a diet (OK, she did get married a few years ago). As her message seems more and more outdated, Cathy will end her 34-year run on Oct. 3. Check out some of her more classic moments.

• Portrait of a 21st-century spinster — YourTango
• 25 reasons men cheat — The Frisky
• Is it ever OK to play dumb? — Double X
• Jersey Shore goes internacional! Just what America's image needs — Flavorwire
• 5 blog-to-book deals that exploit family (in a good way) — Nerve
• Joe Biden gaffes again — Videogum
• The New Yorker looks at wrinkles — BellaSugar
• Gossip Girl's WTF moments — BuzzSugar

Some new moms rush out and befriend fellow mothers once baby arrives, and other women just keep the same friends they've always had. Sure, it's comforting to chat about life with someone in a similar stage, but there's a big bonus in sticking with your single friends and keeping them close to your family. Here are some of the benefits:

1. When you tell the kids that their "Auntie" is coming over, they squish their faces against the window and line the front door like it's a red carpet!
2. She loves to give piggy back rides, partake in pillow fights, and doesn't mind marker tattoos.
3. She welcomes your tots with open arms because she isn't toting all kinds of baby baggage!
4. She loves to babysit or borrow your kids to test out her maternal skills without all of the responsibility.
5. Children reap the reward of having another adult (who isn't a parent) to talk to about issues.
6. She still has her train of thought intact and can lead you through a conversation no matter how many times it gets interrupted.
7. The novelty of changing diapers, repeatedly reading the same story, and tucking tots into bed hasn't worn off for her yet.
8. No matter what the occasion, her gift and presence are unrivaled.
9. You don't have to schedule hanging out around nap time, mood swings, or her meals.
10. You get to live vicariously through her when she fills you in on her latest date, a spontaneous trip, or pulling an all-nighter (that doesn't involve someone getting sick or having a nightmare).

Photo courtesy of New Line

There's nothing wrong with being single, so why not embrace it? Just be careful about how you embrace it, argues Wendy Atterberry in a column titled Do Some Single Women Need to Shut Up?

After reading Lea Lane's inspired Huffington Post piece entitled Why I'm Alone, Atterberry applauds a single woman who relishes her independence. A widow and the founder of SoloLady.com, Lane says that she's not aggressively pursuing a mate because she likes being able to call her own shots and she appreciates solitude but also because "life doesn't always wind up the way you expect it to, and you roll with it."

Lane is what Atterberry dubs a "happy" — a woman who is happy being alone but not militantly antirelationship. On the flip side are the "crappies," women who are off-putting in their lack of compromise and self-righteous singlehood. Let's discuss this, shall we?