Spinster World War prevented many within a generation of women from experiencing romance and marriage, or having children. The image of the old spinster with a fading photo of her dead World War I soldier boyfriend on her fireplace mantel was common in films of the 1950s and 1960s. Likewise, in the American classic novel "Gone with the Wind" (1936) about the Civil War, numerous references are made to grieving fiancées, women who were "wanted, if not wed", and to the shortage of single, able-bodied (and thus "marriageable") men at war's end. In modern peacetime societies with wide opportunities for romance,
The Spinster and Her Enemies The Spinster and Her Enemies The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality 1880–1930 is a 1985 book by the political scientist Sheila Jeffreys, in which the author discusses the change in sexual attitudes that occurred in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and criticizes the idea that this change represented a shift from sexual puritanism to sexual revolution. Jeffreys also examines feminist involvement in the Social Purity movement. The book received positive reviews, praising Jeffreys for her treatment of friendships between women. However, commentators have also suggested that the work forms part of a trend within