In the heady days of the Noughties, when Facebook was in its prime, it was customary to use the platform to update one’s relationship status for all to see. Options included a strong, sturdy “In a relationship”; an even stronger and sturdier “In a relationship with [tagged partner’s name]”; an often ironic “Married” (perhaps hard to see the irony unless you were a Noughties teen); a wry “It’s complicated”; and a proud – or ashamed – “Single”. This week, in the cover interview for December’s issue of Vogue, the actress Emma Watson said that she prefers to describe herself as “self-partnered”.
Though Facebook presumably will not be jumping to create a new relationship status, there was a strong response to Watson’s statement online. On Monday, #selfpartnered was trending on Twitter. Reactions were varied: some users found the term progressive, others eye-rollingly woke or narcissistic. People cared about the comment not because it revealed anything particularly juicy about Watson, but because being a single woman is complex and laden with pressure.
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