Emma Watson has provided clarification on her earlier remarks of being “self-partnered.”
The 33-year-old actress clarified in a recent interview that the term does not always indicate that she is unmarried.
Watson famously referred to herself as “self-partnered” in 2019, which aroused interest and conjecture on her relationship status.
As she approached this milestone, actress Emma Watson talked about her relationship status and expressed her satisfaction with her independence in an interview with British Vogue.
“I’m really happy [being single], even though it took me a while.” “I refer to it as self-partnering,” she said.
She has finally made it obvious exactly what she means.
Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist from California, tells NBC about the idea of being “self-partnered,” stressing that it centers on the notion of feeling complete as a person.
One “does not feel compelled to seek fulfillment through having another person as a partner,” according to Manly.
This shows a dedication to understanding oneself first, not that self-partnered people never date or think about getting married.
Manly claims that “one must frequently invest a great deal of time and energy on personal development in order to be truly self-partnered.”
Emma Watson is not the only well-known person who is changing the definition of relationships.
Gwyneth Paltrow coined the phrase “conscious uncoupling” in 2014 to characterize her split from musician Chris Martin.
What, then, is behind this tendency of redefining terms related to relationships?
According to Florida therapist Travis McNulty, who spoke to NBC, “there’s a big shift in renaming the terms of relationships” since younger generations are placing a greater value on uniqueness than on conventional relationship norms.
These changes reframe being single or divorced as empowering states, challenging the traditional labels attached to these conditions.
The psychological connotations and narratives surrounding the terms “single” and “getting a divorce” are challenged when Emma Watson and Gwyneth Paltrow come out and use terms like “self-partnered” and “conscious uncoupling,” according to McNulty. “People form opinions based on labels traditionally used to define a person’s relationship status.”
But in a more recent interview with Vogue, Watson explained her goals.
At the age of 30, she clarified, “I was beginning to realize that perhaps I had figured out some things about how to take better care of myself – perhaps quite well, actually.” and being proud of that.
Watson stresses the virtues of independence and self-love, but she also loves community and relationships.
She actively devotes time and effort to her relationships with friends and family and has built a solid support network.
Manly advises learning to enjoy your own company and makes a number of recommendations for anyone looking to embrace self-partnering, whether they are single or in a relationship.
According to her, “it’s also important to nurture feeling at ease without others — and loving your time alone.”
Self-esteem can be developed through easy activities like eating alone, reading alone, or even viewing a movie alone.
To examine “your strengths and weaknesses… learning more about who you are without judgment,” Manly advises writing every day.
Spend some time studying these dynamics through reading or therapy if previous relationships have followed problematic patterns.
In order to get important personal insights, Manly suggests looking back at past relationships to see why certain patterns keep happening.
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