Ladies, we're finally free and suddenly we're the talk of the town.

According to a recent New York Times analysis of census results, "for the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one. In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000."

While I think I am joined by a large group within Team Double X, I can safely say, "So what?"

But that's not the point, is it?

This new statistic was big, blazing news. While the New York Times was fair and logistical in its report of the analysis, there seemed to be an aura of awe associated with the female gender's "unprecedented" new marital status (even though three of the contributing reporters were women). Indeed, it was almost as if the writers couldn't quite believe it themselves:

"Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits," the analysis stated.

GASP! Shocking!

Perhaps this speaks to a larger generation gap amongst journalists, because frankly, while I was intrigued by the report, the findings didn't surprise me in the least.

"This is yet another of the inexorable signs that there is no going back to a world where we can assume that marriage is the main institution that organizes peoples' lives," said professor Stephanie Coontz, director of public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, in the article.

Let's all take a moment, acknowledge Coontz's insight and say, "thank god." Many of the women I know are so excited to live in a world where marriage isn't the main institution that organizes their lives, they can barely contain themselves.

Indeed, what woman can wait for the day when "What does your husband do?" is no longer the second question asked after an introduction?

And, perhaps, therein lies the shocking news.

If women can no longer be defined in terms of what their relationships with men are, one wonders, just what exactly will define women now?

While many of my peers have given up the early feminist notion that women should be defined in exactly the same ways as men, speaking from the boots of a 22-year-old, I view this definitive shift as yet another choice women are making towards greater flexibility in their lives.

Don't want to be married by 25? 30? 45? You don't have to — and look around, you're not alone.

William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, agrees. He describes the shift as "reflecting the culmination of post-1960 trends associated with greater independence and more flexible lifestyles for women."

"For better or worse, women are less dependent on men or the institution of marriage," Dr. Frey said in the article. "Younger women understand this better, and are preparing to live longer parts of their lives alone or with unmarried partners. For many older boomer and senior women, the institution of marriage did not hold the promise they might have hoped for, growing up in an 'Ozzie and Harriet' era."

Frankly, what excites me about this shift is the possibility it exposes. Finally, women can focus on something other than pursuing an institution that has kept them behind for so many years. And, finally, they can begin to live without a societal stigma for doing so.

Ladies, we may not be there yet, but with more and more of us deciding not to settle, the future looks just a little bit brighter.

And that's big news.

Reach columnist Maureen Trantham at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.