Emma Watson coins new term for happily single people and we are 100% on board
Emma Watson is happily single and she's even coined a new term to describe her unfettered relationship status.
In a cover story for the British Vogue December issue, Watson told Paris Lees that she calls it "self-partnered". The Little Women star also spoke about the cultural pressure that exists around turning 30.
"Cut to 29, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious," said Watson. "And I realise it’s because there is suddenly this bloody influx of subliminal messaging around. 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, or you’re still figuring things out… There’s just this incredible amount of anxiety."
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Watson told Lees that she didn't use to be convinced by the notion of being happily single — but her own lived experience might have changed that.
"I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like, 'This is totally spiel.' It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered," said Watson.
The new term 'self-partnered' seems to be a hit on social media.
Author Rowan Coleman said it could even work for people who are in relationships.
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Others really identified with the term, adopting it for themselves.
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And inevitably, other celebrity-coined relationship terms bubbled up again.
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BRB, changing my relationship status from 'single' to 'self-partnered.'
See the full feature in the December issue of British Vogue available via digital download and newsstands on Friday Nov. 8.
Topics Celebrities
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
