Emma Watson Married To Self

Approaching a milestone birthday inevitably forces us to evaluate what we've achieved and where we feel we've fallen short — both personally and professionally. In a recent interview with British Vogue, actress Emma Watson said one thing she's made peace with as she nears her 30th birthday is her current relationship status. It took me a long time, but I'm very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered, she said.

What does that mean, exactly? Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist based in California sees merit the idea. Manly describes the relationship status this way: self-partnering focuses on the ideal of being happy and complete as a solo individual. A self-partnered person would feel whole and fulfilled within the self and does not feel compelled to seek fulfillment through having another person as a partner. That doesn't necessarily mean a self-partnered person doesn't date or never hopes to get married someday. It's that they're taking the time to know themselves first. To be truly self-partnered, one must often invest a great deal of time and energy on personal development, says Manly.

Watson isn't the first celebrity to shift what's normally viewed as a negative relationship status into a positive. In 2014, Gwyneth Paltrow used the term conscious uncoupling to describe her divorce from Coldplay singer Chris Martin. Why has reclaiming these terms become a trend now? There’s a big shift in renaming the terms of relationships because there’s also a huge shift towards individuality in younger generations who are no longer wanting to be defined by the standards of traditional generations, explains Travis McNulty, a therapist practicing in Florida.

Self Partnership, The Emma Way

When Emma Watson and Gwenyth Paltrow come out and use phrases like 'self-partnered' and 'conscious uncoupling', it challenges the psychological implications and narratives behind the phrases being 'single' and 'getting a divorce'.

People form opinions based off of labels traditionally used to define a person’s relationship status, but when Emma Watson and Gwyneth Paltrow come out and use phrases like 'self-partnered' and 'conscious uncoupling', it challenges the psychological implications and narratives behind the phrases being 'single' and 'getting a divorce', McNulty continues. These terms remove the stigma associated with someone who may identify as either of these and ultimately lets people know, 'I’m OK.'

Greater focus on personal goals, more emotional energy for friends and family and being free of the social burden of needing to find a partner are just a few benefits Manly says come with being self-partnered. However, you'll only reap these if you do the work to get there. And that goes for folks in relationships, too. The work involved in being self-partnered is helpful for every individual — whether they are in a relationship or not, says Manly. And as long as your partner is supportive in your pursuit, Manly says some of the best self-work can be done within a conscious, loving relationship.

Emma Watson Says She's 'self Partnered' Rather Than Single

Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Emma Watson may not be dating or married but the 29-year-old the actor certainly isn't single. She said so herself in an interview with

Appearing on the fashion magazine's recent cover, which released online on Tuesday, Watson, who will be 30 in April, spoke about the pressures she feels regarding her next birthday and the societal perception of women who do not have families of their own by age 30. Watson admitted she initially didn't get why everyone makes such a big fuss about turning 30, but noted that as her milestone birthday approaches, she now understands why there is so much stress and anxiety surrounding the age.

Emma Watson attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California. Watson described herself as self-partnered in a new interview with British Vogue. Mike Coppola/VF18/Getty Images

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Cut to 29, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious. And I realize it's because there is suddenly this bloody influx of subliminal messaging around. If you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby and you're turning 30, and you're not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career, or you're still figuring things out...There is just this incredible amount of anxiety, the

Despite her newfound recognition of this, Watson said she wasn't giving in to the negative rhetoric towards possibly being a single 30-year-old and is happy with her current lifestyle.

I never believed the whole 'I'm happy single' spiel, ' she admitted. I was like, 'This is total spiel.' It took me a long time, but I'm very happy [being single]. I call it self-partnered.

Spinster, Old Maid Or Self Partnered

Actress for her rejection of the term single. Dozens of people suggested they too would use Watson's newly coined descriptor to explain their dating status.

I'm identifying myself as 'self partnered' this Holiday season...tired of my family asking me about my relationship status, one user wrote on Twitter.

I'm identifying myself as self partnered this Holiday season...tired of my family asking me about my relationship status. pic.twitter.com/rgS2qXWmGy— PatrioticLawStudent (a.k.a. Thomas) (@law_patriotic) November 5, 2019

What Is Self Partnering? Emma Watson's Confusing Relationship Status Explained

Another also thought the phrase was the perfect response to give inquiring minds: When your parents asks if you're seeing anyone and you tell them you're #SelfPartnered.

Others thanked Watson for helping to remove the negative connotations typically applied to single 30-year-olds. I personally love that Emma Watson calls being single 'self-partnered.' We really need to overhaul the way we think about singledom and especially how our culture views single women, one Twitter user wrote.

I personally love that Emma Watson calls being single self-partnered. We really need to overhaul the way we think about singledom and especially how our culture views single women. I wrote about this a while back: https://t.co/DGxcns6K1a— Rachel Thompson (@RVT9) November 5, 2019

How To Practise Self Love By Marrying Yourself, And Why Self Partnering And 'sologamy' Are On The Rise

, which premieres in theaters on Christmas day, Watson Margaret Meg March, a young woman who prides herself on her future role as a housewife and homemaker. While Meg's life and desires in

[Meg's] choice is that she wants to be a full-time mother and wife. To Jo [Saoirse Ronan], bring married is really some sort of prison sentence. But Meg says, 'You know, I love him [John Brooke, played by James Norton], and I'm really happy and this is what I want. And just because my dreams are different than yours, it doesn't mean they're unimportant, ' Watson explained.

All about being 'self partnered', I'm happy and single. Just because I'm nearing 30 does not mean I need to be married with kids. Thanks for coining this phrase Emma Watson ❤️— Hannah Tucker (@h_tucks) November 5, 2019

Women Are Marrying Themselves In The Wake Of The Pandemic

I spent almost all of 2018 primarily “dating myself”: I and others call it solo-polyamory, but the heart of it is simply cultivating a happy relationship with yourself. It was the best thing I did for my own well-being. TY @EmmaWatson for this 🙏🏼🙌🏼https://t.co/ZTBBW3BHd1— 💖🥇 Faruk Ateş (Supernova 💥) (@KuraFire) November 5, 2019For years, people have been looking for alternatives to describing themselves as “single, ” and now Emma Watson has a new one: “self-partnered.”

In an interview with British Vogue, the “Beauty and the Beast” actor, who’s 29, describes her stress around turning 30 while still figuring out things such as navigating her love life, starting a family and building a home. She’s very happy being single, she said, adding, “I call it being self-partnered.”

Such alternatives don’t always ring true. At a 2014 panel discussion I attended, one dating coach suggested using the word “available” instead of single. As in: “You’re available to find love, ” he said.

From The Archive: Emma Watson On Being Happily “self Partnered” At 30

In 2015, we coined a new word over here at The Post: solo-ish. We viewed it as a way of saying: My life is my own, but I share it with others, too — family, friends, co-workers. Sometimes there’s a special someone, but not always.

Whether “self-partnered” speaks to you or not, it harks to the larger trend of sologamy, or marrying oneself. Japanese travel agencies offer “solo wedding” packages: wedding dress, bouquet, limo, hotel stay and photo album included. An Italian woman hosted a “fairy-tale” wedding, sans prince, for herself and 70 guests. A New York woman “married” her community, a way of using the wedding ritual to commemorate the strong bonds she has created with friends. And, of course, there was that “Sex and the City” episode where Carrie Bradshaw declared she was marrying herself and was registered at Manolo Blahnik.

Bella DePaulo, a sociologist, author of many books on single life and a Washington Post contributor, thinks “self-partnering” doesn’t quite fit, because it’s still about partnering. “When I want to specify people who embrace single life as their best life, I use the phrase ‘single at heart, ’ ” DePaulo said in an email.

Her Boyfriends Have Always Been Very Brainy

It’s easy to mock solo weddings or Watson, for calling herself “self-partnered, ” but both hit on the importance of each person’s relationship with