It is gender-based in that single women have to deal with the stigma our cultures places on them, in addition to dealing with the inconveniences and hardships that come with some aspects of singleness. Single men are bachelors. Single women are spinsters. Single women are often openly shamed by friends and family when we ask for help because we are seen as failures who must accept the consequences of our “bad decisions.” Single men do not typically face this kind of shaming.

So it is, indeed, a somewhat gendered issue. That doesn’t mean that single men don’t also face the struggle of finding support when they are sick, injured, or otherwise infirmed. Of course they do. Community is for the good of us all.