Single People: Boundaries Are Not Bad Manners
You’re not being “no fun” by requiring respect.
Here’s the thing about questions: We were raised to think we have to answer. A certain amount of pressure and obligation is implied when someone wants to know something. They ask, we feel we have to answer, because if we don’t, that’s rude — right? We were also raised not to be rude. This social norm has countless applications that have zero consequences at all, such as “How’s it going,” “How’s your day,” and other situations that are nothing more than casual pleasantries. The difference for single people, is that what our society has come to believe is casual chat about our lives can actually hurt to discuss. It is also no one’s fucking business.
“How’s dating going?”
“Go on any good dates lately?”
“How are you still single?”
“Sooooo….any new booooys?”
Etc. etc. We’d never sit down in a manicurist’s chair next to a married friend and ask them, “Sooo…..how happy is your maaaariaggggeee?” But it’s the same damn thing. It’s an open question into a private area, but for some reason we’ve been taught that single people’s privacy doesn’t matter. We’ve been taught that someone’s dating life, their actual search for companionship, carries no more emotional weight than asking how they take their…
