Aranya Doloi
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From casting spells to coining new phrases, actress Emma Watson is making headlines for all the right reasons; the actress has put a new spin on how we look at the word ‘single’ as she calls herself ‘self-partnered’. Or at least, that’s how she chose to describe her relationship status in a recent interview with British Vogue.
Emma Watson, who turns 30 next April and who is currently not in a relationship, explained that Watson as a young girl didn’t believe people when they said they were happy to be single. She said, “I was like, ‘This is totally a spiel’”. It took me a long time, but I’m very happy (being single); I call it being self-partnered”.
Women worldwide have long cringed the word ‘single’; they have faced pressure to partner up and start a family. In fact, older single women are more likely to be seen as an object of pity while men tend to be perceived as free and enjoying bachelor life. Emma Watson, herself said that she had struggled with anxiety and stress as she approached her 30th birthday, eventually realising it was because she was facing an “influx of subliminal messaging”. She said, “If you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby, and you are turning 30, and you’re not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career … There’s just this incredible amount of anxiety”.
In a world that’s modern, messy chaotic with the the many different types of relationships people have, or for how relationships change over time, perhaps Watson is right; we need new definitions.
