Structural Singlism: The Unfair Treatment Experienced by Every Person Who Is Single
Many examples of singlism are embedded in laws, policies, and practices
In everyday life, single people are often stereotyped and stigmatized in the conversations they have with other people. The kinds of things other people say to us, and about us, sometimes reveal that they think single life is something people are stuck with, and not something anyone would actually choose. The kinds of questions they ask suggest that to them, there is nothing more interesting or more important than single people’s attempts to unsingle themselves. Hence all the interest in whether we are “seeing anyone” and the disappointing lack of interest in all the people and things we really do care about. These everyday slights are among the microaggressions of single life. You can think of it as the small stuff, except that it adds up, and is not really small in its pernicious effects.
When I mention singlism (the stereotyping, stigmatizing, and marginalizing of single people, and the discrimination against them) to a group of people, there is almost always someone who insists that they have never experienced singlism. When it comes to the ways in which single people are pitied or subtly put down in everyday interactions, it is possible that some single…
