Dr Alicia Denby

Biography

I am a Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, where I teach on personal life, gender, and sexualities, with a specialist interest in singlehood and contemporary intimacies. Using a creative qualitative approach, my research critically interrogates the privileging of the couple relationship, and subsequent marginalisation of non-coupled intimacies. Most recently, my PhD research, which was funded by the Leverhulme Trust LUDeC Doctoral Scholarship, examined the everyday experiences of singlehood in Greater Manchester. Through this work, I was able to draw attention to the limited diversity and nuance in wider representations of singlehood, and present a reimagination of singlehood in urban space that is attentive to single people’s experiences as contextual and intersectional. From this work, I have developed interests around single people and housing, imagined futures and alternate selves, friendship and technology, masculinities, and queer singlehood, which I intend to explore further in my academic career. 

Academic and Professional Qualifications

Fellowship (FHEA), Advance HE
PhD, Manchester Metropolitan University, Doctoral Scholarship funded by the Leverhulme Trust 
MSc Sociological Research, University of Manchester
BA(Hons) Sociology and English, Manchester Metropolitan University

Research Output

Denby, A. (In Press) The Temporal Limits of Single Positivity: Single Women in Postfeminist Culture. Sociological Research Online.

Denby, A. (Under Review) ‘The Life Story Interview as an Imaginative Tool’ In Sarah Marie Hall and Helen Holmes (Eds) More Mundane Methods, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Denby, A., and van-Hooff, J. (2024) An Emotional Stalemate: Cold Intimacies in Heterosexual Young People’s Dating Practices. Emotions and Society, 6(2): 171-187. doi.org/10.1332/263169021X16740853641050

Denby, A. (2024) How to Design and Conduct Safe Research on Online Dating Apps [How-to-Guide] London: Sage Publications Ltd. doi.org/10.4135/9781529683134.

Denby, A. (2023) Book Review: Eva Illouz, The End of Love: A Sociology of Negative Relations. Journal of Consumer Culture, 23(2) doi: 10.1177/1469540522108561

Denby, A. (2021) Toxicity and Femininity in Love Island: How Reality Dating Shows Perpetuate Sexist Attitudes Towards Women. Frontiers, 6(641216) doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.641216

LUDeC Connections

By illuminating the everyday realities of single people, who are often overlooked in urban policy and planning, the project has the potential to inform more inclusive and equitable urban development. It challenges normative assumptions embedded in housing, public space, and social policy that privilege coupledom and family units. Reimagining singlehood in urban space opens up possibilities for designing cities that better reflect the needs of diverse populations, including those who live alone, are child-free, or experience marginalisation due to their relationship status.

While engagement with organisations during the thesis was limited due to the emerging nature of the field, post-thesis dissemination has opened up promising avenues for collaboration. I have initiated conversations with the LGBT Foundation to explore queer singlehood, and I am developing international academic partnerships focused on intersectionality and singlehood. I have also collaborated with fellow LUDeC scholars in conferences and workshops, mapping the overlaps in our interests and disciplines. These collaborations will be central to my post-doctoral career, enabling co-produced research that amplifies underrepresented voices and fosters knowledge exchange across disciplines and borders.

Contact Information

a.denby@mmu.ac.uk