What If Boys Don't Like You?
I'm not scared.
Welcome to Cheaper Than Therapy, a newsletter by Shani Silver.
There was a time when I was too shy, ashamed, and afraid to tell the truth about being single. There was a time I thought I had to write about dating as if I believed in the institution. There was a time I felt the need to hide my true thoughts and feelings from the internet. The impulse to hide didn’t come from within me, it came from the very real threat of judgements and ostracizing behaviors that come along with doing anything other than giving lonely single women advice on how to find a man.
You couldn’t speak or write about singlehood the way I do, that was social, professional, and most importantly romantic suicide. You can’t talk about singlehood like it’s a good thing, people will think you’re a bitchy, ugly feminist! You can’t talk about being comfortable and content with singlehood, men will think you don’t want a partner! You can’t tell the world what men do to women in dating culture, boys won’t like you! These days, it is laughable to imagine I’d keep my trap shut on these and other topics. But there was a time.