To the relief of lonely hearts and hapless coupled men everywhere, another Valentine's Day has come and gone. Chocolates were bought off the shelves and Charlottesville's particularly candlelight-happy restaurants were booked solid. Those with a penchant for sentimentality or sugary pastel hearts emblazoned with flirty phrases of fructose foreplay were in their prime. And the bitter, cynical and probably more tolerable among us spent 24 hours bah-hallmarking their way through "Singles Awareness Day."
Single status might seem like a scarlet letter on Feb. 14 -- there's no denying this. But for the other 364 days of the year, you might be surprised to note how many single guys and gals like their lone ranger status. In fact, you might say that these days its quite hip to be a party of one.
Sienna leaves Jude! Jess needs no Nick. Alright, taking cues from the tabloid-chronicled lives of celebrities is a horrible idea, but newly single starlets seem to be on to a trend. Single as the new black?
You can swing being single both ways. In a romantic-comedy, couple-y world, single means sweatpants, TCBY chocolate-vanilla swirl, waiting by the answering machine and strolls through Central Park accompanied by a heartbreaking acoustic ballad piped through surround sound. Not too appealing, to be sure.
But take a different angle and single becomes quite seductive. Sexy single is George Clooney, international bachelor extraordinaire. It's independence to see whomever you like and sprawl however you wish across the bed. It's James Bond, too busy battling spies and swigging martinis to marry.
So there. Perhaps it's not so sad to be single. You do what you want. You answer to no one. And being single doesn't mean you're alone. You have friends, you have frat dawgs, you have Jimmy, that friendly bartender who always pours you the regulars' ratio of tonic to gin.
Before we jump to any uncoupling conclusions, it's important to pause, introspectively, analytically, with a twist of Woody Allen over-thought anxiety and ask ourselves: is all this so-good-to-be-single spiel just an ingenious defense mechanism? Perhaps single's new "it" status is just a tricky emotional evolution -- a way to say, "Screw you guys, I like it this way," before giving ourselves or anyone else the chance to wonder if we're all a bit lonely.
Somewhere down the lines of sitcoms and sociological development it became a questionable thing to "need" someone else. Partnership was deemed preferable only if harmonious and hot but pathetic otherwise. Wanting, needing, hoping: These verbs became taboo and grounds for mild mockery with a keen sense of comedic timing. It was cooler to be enough on your own. To be almost inhumanly self-sufficient, swayed to date by supermodels and sex gods only.
Stubborn independence and anti-relationship sentiment is particularly strong among the college set. And understandably so. After all, college is the time when most of us are the most selfish we'll ever be. Our schedules are often spontaneous and don't begin earlier than 11 a.m. Our Friday nights are not to be infringed upon. Most of us know college days are the glory days and are grateful and extremely protective of them. Relationship drama is seen as a potential plague of stress upon these four years of freedom.
This being said, single as a style statement, like other fashionable trends, seems to be inextricably linked to age. Like a miniskirt or gaucho pants, single looks better on (most) college students than on (most) 43-year-olds. Single style is something that most people seem to grow out of.
Granted, there are exceptions to this rule. The aforementioned George Clooney has worn single gracefully into his silver-streaked years. The almost over-referenced "Sex and the City" ladies tested social stereotypes that looked unkindly upon a 30-something without a ring or at least a significant relationship.
But we certainly aren't all George Clooney, and there are certainly cracks in the City gals' logic. After all, the profitable HBO series ended with four out of four ladies coupling off. And in fact, the star of Sex, Sarah Jessica Parker, celebrated the conclusion to the show's success in maternity wear, with Matthew Broderick as a red carpet accessory.
Complete independence and fearless singledom can be an exciting and even preferable way to live. We'd even go so far as to strongly recommend a single status for the spring season. Be forewarned, however, that like most of the most fashionable trends, this one might not be wearable forever. As realists John Donne and Jon Bon Jovi know: No man is an island.
Megan and Meghan's column runs bi-weekly on Tuesdays. They can be reached at fanale@cavalierdaily.com and moran@cavalierdaily.com.
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