Harry Potter’s most trusted comrade-in-wizardry has brought her magical talents to the fore once again to coin a perfect new appellation for a more and more familiar personal state of affairs: She is not “single.” She is “self-partnered.”
Emma Watson’s self-identification of her current social status, casually dropped into an interview published in the December issue of British Vogue, has lit up the Twitterverse, provoking Watson-haters to go on the attack and Watson’s fans to rally to her defense. The collateral damage has been the burying of the lead as to the main purpose for the interview: Publicizing the Christmas release of Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women,” in which Emma portrays Margaret “Meg” March.
So what is it, exactly, to be “self-partnered?”
Emma, on the cusp of turning 30, explains, “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious. And I realize 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.”
Fear not. Hermione of Gryffindor has conjured the charm to heal herself.
“I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being ‘self-partnered.’ ”
Question: Can you personally relate to Emma’s “self-partnering” as a lifestyle choice to counter the social pressures to couple-up in a traditional relationship by the time you’re 30?