Being Single is for Losers

One of the most blatant misrepresentations in rom-coms is the idea that singles can never be happy. All personal and professional accomplishments appear to pale in comparison to one's relationship status. Rene Zellweger, for example, plays the frumpy, eponymous character in Bridget Jones Diary, who is obsessed with not dying "fat and alone." She eventually finds entangled in a tangled love triangle and is subjected to a series of embarrassing, inebriated humiliations along the road. She'd be lot better off alone, according to logic.

The film trilogy, based on Helen Fielding's best-selling novel, also depicts the normalization of sexual harassment in the workplace. In a recent interview, Fielding stated that she would be unable to write the story now because of the degree of misogyny, which she described as "very frightening for me to see how things have evolved since then."

There’s some seriously ugly people in relationships. People with terrible personalities can always find someone to put up with them. Death row inmates find love. So, it’s probably not the case that you’re uglier, dumber, and more annoying than everyone else in the world. The simpler (and more likely to be correct) solution is that it has nothing to do with these factors. You’re just single because you haven’t met them, yet.