Culture

Here's why you seriously shouldn't feel bad about being single

By Priya Alika

Being a single woman often feels like you’re the punchline of a joke. People are constantly trying to set you up with their weird single cousins. The ‘Low-Cal Microwave Meals for One’ section of the grocery store is extremely depressing, and to add insult to injury – strangers ask if you have cats. Plural. Of course, all this gets exponentially worse as you get older. Finally, at thirty-five, you feel like a complete social failure in a world that teaches us a woman’s worth lies in her ability to attract a partner.

Being single means loving yourself the most 

The thing you have to remember is this: NOTHING that society has fed you is true. Girl, you are not losing your “market value.” You are not a Problem to be Fixed. Being single is not a disease! It is a luxury and a privilege to be single – to have time to do the things that you want to do.

Sit down and make a list of all the annoying things your exes made you do – like watch them play video games, or go to seemingly endless football matches. Remember all those movies that they picked, or that time they spent telling you about their whiskey collection? Being single means you no longer have to compromise on your hobbies or interests for another person. You don’t have to think of anybody else’s needs. You are finally free to love the most important person in your life: yourself


Happy couples are rarer than Instagram would have you believe 

Look around you at all the couples you know. How many of them are really, truly happy? Forget the Instagram gloss; the Facebook statuses; the many, many captions about being at the Grand Canyon with my “forever BFF!” How many people do you know who are a great fit for their partners? 

Chances are, you don’t actually know as many happy long-term couples as you think you do. Because they’re rare! The vast majority of couples are going to break up with each other over something really stupid and painful– like him cheating with her best friend. 

Oh, and that one gorgeous couple who give you major social-media envy? He has a drinking problem and she’s in denial. (They just hide it well!)

That’s the best thing about being single – it means that you’re not in an unhappy relationship. Cherish that, sis. Forget the lies – being single means you’re not settling.


If you really wanted a boyfriend, you could GET a boyfriend 

Okay, listen up. If you’re still feeling bad about being single, I’ll teach you how to get a boyfriend in the next week. The secret is incredibly simple: all you have to do is drop your standards

That’s not what you thought I was going to say? Well, too bad, because that’s the truth. If you wanted to, you could go on Tinder right now and date just about any old dipshit on there. Yes, even that guy that hasn’t changed his bedsheets since 2012. You could date an unemployed “artist” who lives on his mother’s couch. You could date the guy with serious unresolved mental health issues, and play free therapist/mommy forever! Doesn’t that sound amazing to you? 

The word “boyfriend” isn’t as high-value as people make it out to be. (When was the last time you saw a man being shamed for not having a girlfriend?) Don’t attach too much importance to it. Male attention isn’t a big deal – don’t you want a QUALITY boyfriend? Why rush into relationships? You’re only blocking your blessings, boo. 

Love your time being single and fab. Know that it’s a privilege. And finally, if people try to shame you about being single, look them dead in the eye and tell them that you’re single because you don’t have low standards. Good luck, girl!

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