Spinsters near and far

So my research on Spinsters around the globe has not turned up as much information as I had hoped, but I have found a few interesting tidbits. My first question was what are spinsters called in other countries. Here are a few of the results I got from Babel Fish:

German- Unverheiratet Frau (Unmarried woman)
or Alte Jungfer (Old maiden)

Italian- Zitella
or Donna Celibe (celibate woman?)

Russian- Ctaraya Deva (Old girl)

Spanish- Solterona (single one?)

Dutch- Oude Vrijster

French-Celibataire

But I asked my friend from France the word for spinster and she told me it was Vieille fille (Old girl). Here are some snippets from our conversation:

Me: So at what age are you a vieille fille in france and what kind of stereotype do they get?

My friend: Considering that the average age for a woman in France to have her first baby is 29 you're not a vieille fille for us yet. You're just starting your life girl! To be a vieille fille is not so much a matter of age but a matter of behavior to us since getting married does not mean much. We have actually more chirldren born out of wedlock than in. So when you meet a woman of 50 years old who has never been "married" she could very well be a happy mother of three (one just starting her career, one at university and one still a teen).

Me: so vielle fille is not really used much anymore? Is it a derrogatory term? so people don't feel any pressure to marry or start of family from society or their parents? what about in the church?

My Friend: LOOOOOOOOL this is such an American question. Oh nooooo. People really don't feel any pressure to get married. Actually what happens very often is that people get married after having raised their children (if they have not split up before). Vieille fille can still be used but since it is such a seldom thing we don't use it that much and it is therefore even MORE derrogatory. It takes a lot to be a vieille fille. It takes not only to never have had sex but also to be narrow minded and stuck in the time of your youth.
As far as the church is concerned there is not so much social pressure but people feel a lot more pressure from the church. Then you want to ask me why it is this way and then we will start on another subject that will take a lot more time to answer.

So I guess France is the place to go if you don't want to feel any pressure to get married! But not everyone has the French attitude. Here is an excerpt from a very interesting blog from a girl in Jordan, I suggest reading the whole thing at Memoirs of a Jordanian Spinster!!

She starts her post like this:

"Don’t be surprised! Jordan is one of these countries that if you are a woman and did not marry before the age of 25; panic attacks start hitting your family and specifically your mother, and they start doing their best to change this status to married so that they can finally rest and breathe that they did what they were supposed to do.

Suddenly; your mother wants to take you with her to any social call she is making, even if you don’t know the people or you don’t have anything in common with them; your mom will do her best to show you around to her friends and relatives and will go on and on about how successful you are, smart, obedient and how you would make a great wife and mother.

When you go to wedding parties, women will salute you and say in a low tone: By God's will; next time it will be your turn!! When will they learn that this is not a nice wish? It is as if saying we hope that one day you will get married as if this is the ultimate achievement in life!"

It sounds like Jordanian mothers aren't really that different than Mormon mothers. They still say the same things at weddings that they say here, "Next time it will be your turn!" Could that be a the most dreaded comment a spinster could receive anywhere?

Well I will keep searching and try to find more about spinsters from all over the planet, but until then I hope this suffices. Over and out.