Did you read the article?
Disney villain Cruella De Vil, says “More good women have been lost to marriage than to war, famine or disaster.” Chante Joseph decided to turn that into an article titled Is Having A Boyfriend Embarrassing Now? With media literacy at an all-time low and individualism at an all time high. Those two traits make the perfect ingredients to have an entire population misunderstanding the viral vogue article.
Having been translated across different languages, the article has encouraged discourse that has transcended language barriers, gender-expression and political affiliations. It has been debated on all sides of the spectrum. It has been praised and shunned.
Many are excited that others share their thoughts that being single is trendy and chic. One commenter on Joseph’s video affirmed that, “yes-having a bf is a pr disaster” On the app, hundreds of women come out with borderline horrifying stories about their partners. A lot of creators, as she points out in the article, have been victim of prioritizing their partners and therefore isolating people in their audience. And when their partner does something that does not align with her audience, she is then grouped into the mess that she did not cause.
But many have also retaliated against it. Different think pieces have been put out there on how we as a generation are over-intellectualizing love(which I think is a cop out of critically analyzing the text), or the most interesting push back being, “No, my boyfriend isn’t embarrassing.” As the women post all the wonderful things the S.O does for them. While I am happy for them, I wonder if they read the piece beyond the title. Just because you are individually happy, that does not mean that critical pieces judging a system cannot be made. The article was a critic on relationships or boyfriends but having women realize that they are far more interesting than just their boyfriend. Celebrating that they have more to look forward to than marriage and children, which is more than women just two generations ago could say.
The sentiments in the article are deep rooted in the oppressive history that women have endured for centuries. In the United States, women were not able to own credit cards in 1974 without a male-cosigner. This is a piece hailing the barriers that women have broken through. Women have the ability to create their own identities without their male partner being the center of it. We now see more women choosing to not refer to their partners as their entire being rather just view them as one piece of the whole . As Joseph reiterates in her article that, “Being partnered doesn’t affirm your womanhood anymore; it is no longer considered an achievement and, if anything, it’s become more of a flex to pronounce yourself single.” Not only is it being removed from the pedestal but it’s not being seen as a requirement. More women are thriving within their circle of friends and showcasing their full and satisfying lives.
So while your boyfriend might not be embarrassing, he is the least interesting part of you. You’re literally Barbie and he’s just Ken.