Fighting Singlism

DC is usually a bad example for most things culture related, because it's a city with a transient, uber-driven population of young people that often come here for a couple years--with or without partners--and leave to start real lives elsewhere. That said, this article, is a fascinating read. I haven't quite absorbed it yet, not have I drawn any conclusions that I'm ready to stick by, but the idea of thinking differently about being single and the importance that non-couple relationships carry in the lives of single women strikes me. My lady friends (because they are not girls and women-friends sounds weird) and I often joke about getting adjoining townhouses and tacitly acknowledge the importance we have in eachother's lives. While sometimes (maybe often) the support, converstaions and advice is about  men and dating, it's also about fashion, finances, cooking, restaurant choices, and politics. We "nerd out" together frequently--and provide one another the mental stimulation that we always note is a necessary characteristic of any romantic relationship. One friend and I have a commitment to visit each other as often as possible--and it usually works out to be every six weeks. She lives in a city that's an easy bus ride away, but I often go longer between visits with local friends to whom I haven't made the same commitment to spend time together than I do between our visits. That commitment is essential--and more than I've ever made to a man. I, like the author, have unbounded love for my three nephews and one niece, as well as the rest of my family. Their love and support is a large source of happiness and drive for me. Attitudes are changing, certainly, but being in a romantic relationship has to stop being the end to be reached by any means necessary. The first person I should convince of that is myself.