3 days ago
For Single Women, Independence Can Bring Freedom—and Loneliness
Many women work hard to build independent lives.
They may earn their own money, travel and enjoy careers.
But being independent does not always mean feeling connected to other people.
Some women feel lonely when they return home after a busy day.
Society can also judge single women more harshly than single men.
Wanting love, affection or companionship does not make an independent woman weak.
A person can enjoy being alone and still want a close relationship.
The article says independence and intimacy can exist together.
It encourages people to care for themselves because they are valuable, not just to make someone choose them.
Financial independence, mobility and careers have expanded women’s choices without guaranteeing emotional connection.
Single women may feel pressured to be successful, approachable and independent without appearing lonely or needy.
Psychotherapist Padma Rewari says some high-achieving women face insomnia, work stress and reliance on medication amid loneliness.
The article argues that women often face greater social judgment and risks than straight single men when choosing independence.
Experts suggest celebrating single life while making room for intimacy, vulnerability, relationships and self-care.
- Who
- Urban single women, with perspectives from comedian Prashasti Singh, psychotherapist Padma Rewari and Status Single founder Sreemoyee Piu Kundu.
- What
- The article examines the emotional costs of single women’s independence, including loneliness, social judgment and the desire for intimacy.
- Where
- The discussion is centered on urban women in India, with Mumbai mentioned in connection with psychotherapist Padma Rewari.
- When
- In the contemporary period, alongside the release of Prashasti Singh’s new special, “Divine Feminine.”
- Why
- Greater financial and social independence can expand women’s agency but does not necessarily provide companionship, emotional connection or relief from cultural pressure around coupledom.
Autonomy and Self-Definition
Companionship and Intimacy
What independence provides
Autonomy and Self-Definition
Financial freedom, mobility and career success give women agency and allow them to define their lives outside conventional marriage.
Companionship and Intimacy
Success and self-sufficiency do not necessarily prevent loneliness or provide someone to share everyday experiences with.
How to view singlehood
Autonomy and Self-Definition
Single women can celebrate milestones, form supportive communities and enjoy solitude without treating marriage as the required measure of fulfillment.
Companionship and Intimacy
There should be no shame in wanting touch, tenderness, sex, conversation and the feeling of being wanted.
Independence and vulnerability
Autonomy and Self-Definition
Self-reliance can protect women from social structures that may threaten their agency.
Companionship and Intimacy
When independence becomes a fortress, it can make vulnerability and emotional closeness feel unsafe; autonomy and intimacy need not be opposites.
Key facts
- Central tension
- Independence can increase a woman’s choices while leaving her feeling disconnected.
- Social expectations
- Single women are expected to be accomplished and independent without seeming intimidating, lonely or needy.
- Mental-health concerns
- Padma Rewari describes high-stress work, severe insomnia and medication dependence among some women she sees.
- Cultural pressure
- The article says women face risks, judgments and labels that straight single men do not face to the same extent.
- Community response
- Sreemoyee Piu Kundu founded Status Single, a community for single women.
- Personal celebration
- Kundu publicly celebrated turning 40 on her own terms rather than reserving milestone celebrations for marriage.
- Proposed approach
- The article encourages self-investment, emotional intelligence, relationships, wellbeing and openness to vulnerability.
Quotes
Padma Rewari
Mumbai-based psychotherapist quoted discussing loneliness among independent women.
“I meet women who are thriving in the boardroom but collapsing at home. They are caught in a cycle of high-stress workdays, severe insomnia and increasing dependence on medication simply to function. We are sometimes trying to soothe what is actually a systemic crisis of loneliness chemically.”
CNBC TV 18
“Perhaps the most difficult moment is not when a woman is sitting alone at a restaurant or travelling alone. It is when she closes the door of her home after a long day, puts down her bag, and realises that there is no one waiting to hear about the life she has spent the entire day building.”
CNBC TV 18
Sources
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