Spinster focused on a single lost love, destined to go unmarried unless the lover returns. Tina Fey's portrayal of her character Liz Lemon, on the hit NBC series "30 Rock", exemplifies another classic spinster stereotype. Lemon, a 40-something single woman whose relationships never seem to work out, has unrealistically high expectations for a male partner: her dream husband is the archetypal "Astronaut Mike Dexter", and for much of the series her character is holding out on settling on a man until she can score an astronaut. Unpopped popcorn kernels have been dubbed "old maids" in popular slang, since like unmarried women
Bachelor tax Bachelor tax A bachelor tax is a punitive tax imposed on unmarried men. Such measures historically would be instantiated as part of a moral panic due to the important status given to marriage at various times and places. As far back as Ancient Rome and more recently in the legislatures of New Jersey and Michigan, the supposed libertine or delinquent status of bachelor men was debated and taxes proposed as a solution. Still other locations would find reason to instantiate a bachelor tax for racial reasons (such as in South Africa), nationalistic reasons, to help cover welfare programs, or more