A Desperate Generation Of Single Women
I never use the "D" word lightly.
Welcome to Cheaper Than Therapy, a newsletter for 80s babies by Shani Silver.
Desperation doesn’t form on its own. It has help. I don’t think single women become desperate naturally, I think our surrounding circumstances stir desperation like a pot of cartoon gruel. There’s a unique cruelty to the desperation that single women experience, because dating culture and the dating industry caused it, all while masquerading as the things that would cure it. I sit front row, observing single women’s desperation unfold in all manner of ways. I do not judge, shame, or blame us for the ways we feel or behave. I just like to offer alternatives.
This morning I opened Facebook, which has—somehow—become one of the primary ways I stay informed about my local community. I’ve found farmer’s markets, helped people spread the word about lost pets, stayed up-to-date on local elections, and of course I’ve been able to keep watch over the dating scene. This morning I saw a post that illuminated something for me—I thought I knew how desperate single women were for romantic connection. I was wrong. It is so much fucking worse.