Emma Watson Combats Stigma Around Singlehood in New Interview

If you’re a single woman over the age of 22, chances are that you’ve been asked at least once by a sincere elder when you plan on getting married.

For a generation of women much more likely to get married later than their predecessors — or forgo marriage completely — this has become the universal eye roll heard at family gatherings ’round the world.

It’s even felt by a millennial icon, former Harry Potter star Emma Watson, who coined a new phrase in a recent interview with British Vogue that got the internet talking.

“It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single],” Watson said. “I call it being self-partnered.”

The almost 30-year-old actress and activist started a Twitter storm with that phrase, prompting both support and criticism.

The fact that ACTUAL EMMA WATSON felt pressure to have her shit together by 30 is pretty telling. But surely using a term like “self-partnered” is only creating more stigma? Just say you’re single, love. It’s grand. https://t.co/dLbdz9QdeR

— Hazel Hayes (@TheHazelHayes) November 5, 2019

All about being ‘self partnered’, I’m happy and single. Just because I’m nearing 30 does not mean I need to be married with kids. Thanks for coining this phrase Emma Watson ❤️

— Hannah Tucker (@h_tucks) November 5, 2019

Many noted that Watson’s pressure to get married and have children, despite her busy schedule creating a worldwide feminist campaign and obtaining an Ivy League degree, says a great deal about our current cultural expectations of women.

So telling that movie star, BAFTA winner, UN ambassador, Brown and Oxbridge graduate Emma Watson says she felt a pressure over not having a partner and a baby by 30 https://t.co/6KAPAOqHqQ

— Louise Ridley (@LouiseRidley) November 5, 2019

Watson noted in the interview that not reaching her pre-planned idea of marital bliss by the age of 30 had caused her a great amount of stress before she came to piece with her singlehood.

“If you have not built a home, 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,” Watson said.