Do You Have A Boyfriend?

There's More To Me Than My Relationship Status

January 12, 2017

Each year, you reconnect with family members to open gifts, gorge on feasts and create new memories for the bittersweet holidays.

You make sure to look your best and prepare to answer all the questions your relatives and family friends will ask. “How is school going?” “What colleges are you looking at?” “Anything new in your life?”

You attempt to answer these question the best you can in order to appear like you’ve really got your life together.

However, since I was around 15, I’ve been asked about one thing an overwhelming number of times: “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

Every time I see an old family friend or relative, this is what they are most curious about.

At first, it was just an annoying question. But as time went on, and the question became more frequent, I became frustrated and wondered why something so trivial was more important than my other achievements.

Why was this always the rst thing they wanted to know?

Ignore the fact that I just landed a leading role in the school play. And forget that I’m a starter for the varsity tennis team.

Oh, and that whole part about how I’m applying to college… boring!

Instead ask me about my relationship status because that’s the most important thing in my life. Right?

Then, I have to reply with an awkward “No” or an “I’m just not that type of girl,” followed by an uncomfortable silence.

It’s not like I’m desperately running around looking for a boyfriend. Being single is my choice.

As a high school senior in the midst of applying to colleges, I have much more substantial priorities than nding someone to rub my feet at night, although I wouldn’t complain.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think being in a relationship is a bad thing, and I’m not saying that I’m going to be single forever.

However, I do despise the fact that somehow in this modern, ever-progressive world, my ac- complishments continue to be overlooked in favor of my relationship status.

Senior Grace MacNeil shares my frustrations and feels as though adults shouldn’t be so focused on her love life.

“Instead of asking me questions about how I’m doing in school or how my extracurriculars are going, my extended family thinks the most pressing conversa- tion topic is my relationship status, which honestly makes me feel worthless.”

This isn’t just a problem for the average female either. Women in the media are constantly bombarded with questions about their dating lives.

Whether it’s who they’re dating or why they aren’t, the public always seems to
be more interested in female celebrities’ relationship statuses than their upcoming projects.

When women like Amy Schumer, Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna shut down these questions in interviews, they are scorned for being “rude” or “ill-mannered.”

It’s extremely disappointing when, time and time again, I have to answer the same mundane question.

I’m not unhappy or concerned with my singleness. So please stop asking me about my dating life because, for the time being, I’m single, accomplished, and dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” all on my own.