Taking into account the narratives of highly educated and professionalized middle class childless women living alone, I analyze general notions related to sociability in a broader sense, with especial emphasis to sexuality and friendship, and also to the meanings attributed to loneliness, bringing into question the social value conceded to the couple as the symbol of intimacy. At the light of some feminist ideas of freedom, equality, independency and autonomy, strengthened and expanded from the 1960s on in the "modern western societies", the analyzed notions send us to changes and permanencies, revealing a yet unexplored scenario of Brazilian big cities.
feminism; loneliness; sexuality; single women