Sarah Harte: Separated and divorced women are free of 'mankeeping' at last

Sarah Harte wonders if cultural norms are slowly changing around what relationships and life paths look like for women

'Bridget Jones' tapped into something in the 1990s while arguably also buttressing the trope of the ageing, desperate singleton.

After the demise of my marriage, I never heard from some people with whom I had holidayed annually for decades. They had spent many evenings in my home, as I cooked dinner for them and hosted them.

I facilitated and organised a lot of these social interactions. This is part of ‘mankeeping’, which refers to the burden placed on women in a relationship to facilitate their partner's social interactions, including organising events, sending invitations, buying and cooking food, and cleaning up.