A conversation I once had with an Uber driver…
Him: How old are you?
Me: 28.
Him: You got kids?
Me: Nope.
Him: Are you married?
Me: Nope.
Him: But you have a partner, right?
Me: Um, nope.
Awkward silence…
Apparently, it blew my Uber driver’s mind that a woman in her late-twenties could be single, like single-single: no husband, no dependants, no boyfriend, not even a pet goldfish for that matter. I found it quite amusing that the mere act of revealing my marital status had made a grown man utterly incapable of producing sound from his mouth! Who knew it could be that easy to shut a person up? My experience with the nosy Uber driver is just one of many odd experiences, and I am but one of millions of singles who endure similar (or worse) negative reactions and perceptions about singleness.
We live in a society that largely values pair-bonding and matrimony, so those who do not conform to this ideal (whether by choice or circumstance) often experience some form of negative bias against them. As put by social psychologist, Bella DePaulo, “Singlism is the stigmatizing of adults who are single. It includes negative stereotyping of singles and discrimination against singles.” Singlism is such a fascinating cultural issue that it has warranted attention from academics whose studies have revealed that singlism is far more pervasive than meets the eye...
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