Is it socially unacceptable to be single?
Like everyone else I know who has been stuck in a supermarket checkout queue by the magazines, I feel great sympathy for poor, pitiful Jennifer Aniston: husbandless, childless, over 40, lonely, alone— good heavens, even her famous blond locks look lacklustre given this life of uninterrupted sorrow. In all this barebones misery, it’s almost impossible to consider the possible upside: Miss Aniston is radiantly beautiful, in fantastic physical shape and still cuter than all the buttons in the world, is serial dating very desirable men, has just moved into a fabulous mansion featured in Architectural Digest and makes millions from her movie roles.
But all of Aniston’s achievements pale when compared to her singleness. In 2010, there is no fate worse and no curse more satanic than that of the single girl. The footloose and fancy-free image of the unmarried woman on her daring adventures—in the form of Carrie Bradshaw or Bridget Jones—has been displaced in favour of the stories of desperate housewives and yummy mummies. Faster than you can spell out UNICEF, Angelina Jolie went from having no kids to being a mother of six and the ambassador of goodwill to suffering children around the world.What on earth happened to her bi-curious relationships and the vial of blood she used to wear around her neck? I guess we’re meant to understand that it was all just greasy kid stuff, that we all have our crazy days or years or even decades but anyone with any sense grows up and grows out of it—and becomes a mom.
Please understand that I have no problem with the Jolie narrative—good for her if she’s happy—but I just can’t comprehend why she is glorified while Aniston is pitied. Truly, we don’t know who has the better life or the better deal—it’s just a matter of personal taste—so there is no natural reason to collectively presume that the woman with the man and six kids is happier than the one who can do whatever she wants with whomever and whenever she wishes, is there?
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