The Singleton's Manifesto

From an early age, I have been taught by my parents, teachers, and every single Disney movie I've ever seen that the ultimate goal of a person should be to get married and start a family. Only once married to "the one" can any person attain true happiness.

This idea has been carved and beaten into my skull since I could comprehend language and human relationships. I have been raised with this ideal as if its importance were nearly religious, and not simply an article of social idealism.

I am taking the time now to stand up and embrace my own singularity and independence, not to mention my unparalleled adoration for emotionally unattached sex, and to declare myself a natural singleton. I am single, and I am proud.

Though seeing my dearest friends in committed relationships brings of a pang of biologically-fueled jealousy to my stomach, this involuntary pang is minute and fleeting compared to the feelings of complete pride in my own independence I feel immediately thereafter.

I am single, therefore I am free. Free to flirt without guilt, free to dance with whomever I so choose, free to kiss when the moment calls for it and to fuck like an animal should I feel the need to. My freedom is absolute and there is no greater feeling than the feeling of complete unattachedness. My freedom is my own.

Let me be quite honest, to be single, especially during the month of February, can be quite challenging, however, despite its numerous challenges, being allows for me to focus on only myself and therefore further myself towards my goals in a more efficient, less guilt-ridden manner. No one holds me down or keeps me back from getting what I want, when I want it.

Though we have always been taught to wear our hearts on our sleeves for all to see, the singleton conceals their heart and protects it so that it may remain intact while those who expose themselves are shattered mercilessly at the hands of unrelentingly passionate lovers.

We have been taught to bring the best side of ourselves to the table, to expect the man to pay for dinner, to focus more on our prom dates than our college applications, and to listen to love songs with greater occurrence than we listen to songs about empowerment or independence.

We have been taught that there is someone for everyone and that we need another person to complete us. In short, we have been lied to. We have been lied to by our parents, teachers, social media, and worst of all, our own bodies.

Our biological need to reproduce catalyzes a series of reactions in the brain which causes long-lasting physical attraction to others. This attraction and need for romantic approval and attention is not the sensation of falling in love, it is the manifestation of our human need to survive and reproduce in any way possible. We lie to ourselves.

And what of those who try? Those who mate for life, say "till death do us part" and then break that promise only years later with a stack divorce papers or some raunchy affair? Worse, what of those who do reproduce during the interim of their vows and their demise as a couple? By splitting prematurely, they leave their children traumatized and poised to continue the emotionally suicidal cycle of loving one whose commitment simply cannot last.

A singleton avoids these risks, these horror stories of 'love' gone wrong.

To be single is to be emotionally alone, constantly. This loneliness can be difficult to bare at times, particularly when in the immediate presence of a too-cute-for-words couple, however the slight pain of being alone builds one's character and one's toughness. As the oldish saying goes, "No pain, no gain."

However, a singleton easily puts aside this pain and embraces his or her loneliness as a form of freedom and independence from the shackles of one's fellow man. The singleton lives life on the edge, proud to be an entity in them self, needing no one to fall on nor look to for guidance. The singleton laughs in the face of pathetic, emotion-heavy codependency and says to Cupid "Ready, fire, aim, bitch. Hit me with your best shot."

To be single is to be free, to be free is to be happy, and to be happy is to be single.

We are few and we are many, but we do not realize this and constantly feel alone. We fight the media's social conditioning and we dabble in casual sex, freedom of our spirits, and constant adventures. We are independent, guiltless, and free of the burdens associated with trying to care for another.
We are proud, we are shameless, we are single.

Julia