Helen Gurley Brown (1922–2012)

I read this book 47 years ago, when I was 14 years old, but I remember the “event” as if it were yesterday. The book made a feminist out of me before the term even existed.

There were five of us girls reading the book at the same time. We finished it over one long night at a slumber party. We loved it! We could hardly believe our eyes! We laughed. We giggled. We turned the pages in astonishment. We discussed it amongst ourselves. We learned an important lesson: as young women, we show more didn’t need to get married to have a happy life.

This was my first and only “group read” and it was also my very first “early reviewer” book. You see, the mother hosting the slumber party was a writer and a good friend of Helen Gurley Brown. She had a typewritten manuscript copy of “Sex and the Single Girl” in her home office perhaps six months or more before the actual book was published. I don’t know if she was proofreading it or reviewing it.

We sneaked the manuscript out of her office and pulled it into our bedroom, but I think the mother knew what we were up to. She must have realized that the book would do us no harm, and indeed it didn’t. This was not the swinging book the title suggests. However, it was a groundbreaking feminist work, and I am sure it eventually made feminists out of most of us who had that rare opportunity to read this important work in its pre-publication form. show less

I have a lot of respect for Helen Gurley Brown. She changed things for women when they really needed changing. I have been curious to read this book for awhile.

The book was published in 1962, and it really shows. Ms. Brown stated in the introduction to the edition I read that she had not updated any of the advice, as she felt it could still be useful nowadays. Overall this could be true, bar the unfortunate discourse on homosexuality that definitely reflects the opinions of the time.

I was show more rather disappointed in the prevailing view of men-as-prey, which is not an uncommon attitude today, either. Advice to view all men, married or not, as romantic prospects was a little unsettling.

On the other hand, the book is about becoming a real person (even if the purpose often seems to be to make oneself more attractive to men). She talks about things like nutrition and the psychological benefits of makeup, about the value of making your home somewhere people - especially you - like to be, the necessity of starting at the bottom at a new job and working hard to reach the top.

The message of the book also is that a woman has a right to be at the top, and that she is a perfectly valid person even if she is not married. And, of course, the book states outright that having an active sex life is nothing to be ashamed of. (She does recommend birth control, and counsels against trying to "trap" a man with a baby).

All told, I'm glad I read the book. It affirms my view of the rights of women to have rich, full lives that include sex whether married or not. I will take away some of the advice about, for example, shopping for good clothes on a small income, and the necessity of hard work to get what you want out of life. I tend to view men as people rather than targets who must be managed, but culturally that is an attitude that started in my lifetime, so I don't hold the "target" attitude against her. show less

It's certainly dated, but still a fun read - and some of the things she advocates are still shockingly modern! Her joie de vivre is infectious, and she's such a fun narrator that you can't help but go along for the ride. Having never read it before, the content really surprised me coming from the period it was written in - I see why it was so popular and vilified, and as a liberated woman of 2012 I have to say - hats off to Helen! This book is essential to any modern feminist; I mean, it's show more always good to go back to your roots so you can track your progress. show less

This was not as old-fashioned as you would think. On the one hand, that was a good thing. On the other, it made it less entertaining. The worst thing she does is over-emphasize the staying-slim angle. There's a nice focus on getting personal satisfaction from your career rather than from your relationships. There's even a sympathetic reference to lesbian relationships. This was an original edition from the library; most of the fitness chapter was missing.