America’s Most Heteronormative Ghost April 8, 2009
Posted by Onely in Heteronormativity.Tags: estes park, living in sin, single hotel guests, stanley hotel, stanley hotel ghost tour, stanley hotel room 217, stephen king, the shining
6 comments
Some say the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is the most haunted building in America. My sister and I took a ghost tour there last weekend, and it’s definitely spooky, even though I think they have changed the color of the wainscotting since filming Stephen King’s The Shining there some years ago.
Our tour guide, a dynamic woman wearing a poofy black dress and calling herself “Scary Mary” (she could pull it off (the name, not the dress) ) told us about the spirit children singing London Bridge on the fourth floor, the piano in the ballroom that plays by itself, the ghostly maintenance men crawling around under the pipes, and about the head chambermaid loyal to the Stanleys for over a hundred years: Mrs. Wilson in the famous Room 217, where King wrote his book. (more…)
Wife or Transgender Wife – Does the Category Matter? Your Responses Requested! April 6, 2009
Posted by Onely in Food for Thought, Heteronormativity, Your Responses Requested!.Tags: Chris Mason, death by exercise, James Mason, transgender
4 comments
A couple of months ago, I noticed this creepy headline:
I read the article and found the case stunning and bizarre: “A woman pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death in a swimming pool.”
A month passed, and I noticed another headline:
Having read the fine print of the first article, I knew immediately that this headline was referring to the same case. But I don’t understand why the “transgender” part of the story became headline-worthy. After all, the most interesting (read: disturbing!) part of this story is that the wife (Christine Newton-John, also known as Chris Mason ) exercised her husband (James Mason) to death.
There are plenty of details besides Chris/tine’s transgender identity that seem unrelated to the story, but which were nevertheless reported and may as well have been included in the headline, such as:
Some Like It Single: Singlutionary April 3, 2009
Posted by Onely in single and happy, Singles Resource, Some Like It Single.Tags: independent single women rule, secular sabbath, singles expert, singlution, singlutionary
6 comments
Welcome to the latest installment in our new series, Some Like It Single, where we profile (relatively) small, independent blogs dedicated to exploring what it means to be “single” in American culture and, we hope, around the world.
This week, we’re happy to feature Singlutionary, 
who has only been blogging since the beginning of the year, but who has already made quite a mark on the pro-single blog-o-sphere. Not only is she a regular contributor to Onely’s enlivening comment forums (she’s even made our Quote Board!), but she updates her blog frequently and entertains us with deep thoughts about the merits of dating, her search for a BFF-with-benefits on Craigslist, her remarkable house-maintanence skills, and her commitment to what she calls a “secular sabbath,” a day she thinks all singles should observe. (more…)
Pop Culture, Scourge of the Onelys (Twice in a Week!): “I Vow” Commercials April 1, 2009
Posted by Onely in "Against Love"...?, As If!, Dating, Heteronormativity, Pop Culture: Scourge of the Onelys, Singled Out.Tags: "i vow", chemistry.com, Laura Kipnis, rhetoric of work, what's wrong with flannel nightgowns?!, zyrtec, zyrtec commercial
19 comments
OK. So I understand that Chemistry.com’s whole business revolves around assuming and promoting couple-dom as the most desirable relationship status. In order to do this, it’s no surprise that the company (and others like it) tends to promote stereotypes about and simultaneously degrade single people (see, for example, this offensive commercial).
But — as if that’s not enough — the newest series of Chemistry.com commercials, dubbed on YouTube as “Chemistry.com Vows,” presents two people mimicking wedding-ceremony protocol and normalizes the matrimaniacal tendencies of American culture. (more…)
Pop Culture, Scourge of the Onelies: Desperado March 30, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Heteronormativity, Pop Culture: Scourge of the Onelys.Tags: Antonio Banderas, Desperado, heteronormative, Johnny Cash, pop culture, the eagles, villeart.com
9 comments
“Desperado” has a pretty, rolling tune. It’s been sung by Johnny Cash and by Antonio Banderas (in Spanish) since it was originally produced (per Wikipedia) by the Eagles in 1973. I like the song–or I did, until I finally listened to the actual lyrics the other day (what can I say, I’ve been distracted by other things for 34 years):
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
Before it’s too late.
Gulp. Does anyone else feel just a teensy tone of intimidation here? As if you’d been strongarmed into a dark alley by the heteronormafia? (“Hey, listen, I’m just saying you’d better get with a committed romantic significant other, and soon. Hate to see you go swim with the single fishes, but that’s the game, capice? Nothing personal, just business, eh.”)
Or is it just me being strung out on dark chocolate?
–CC
Some Like It Single: Singletude March 27, 2009
Posted by Onely in blog reviews, Some Like It Single, We like. . ..Tags: a positive blog for singles, clever elsie, help a friend with a breakup, lose yourself, single homebuyer, single homeowner, singletude
3 comments
Welcome to the latest installment in our new series, Some Like It Single, where we profile (relatively) small, independent blogs dedicated to exploring what it means to be “single” in American culture and, we hope, around the world.
Today we’re looking at the thorough, thoughtful, and entertaining posts in Singletude: A Positive Blog for Singles, by Clever Elsie (and yes, she is!).
Singles Denied Domestic Violence Protection in Virginia March 26, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Take action.Tags: domestic violence, npr, teen dating, virginia laws
4 comments
I heard on NPR this morning that in Virginia you can only get a domestic violence protection order if you are married, living together, or have a child together. I *think* this is what I heard–I was madly trying to find some unwrinkled work slacks and not get moisturizer on my blouse at the time, so I might have misheard. (more…)
Onely Commits Two Singlisms in One Day March 26, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Bad Onely Activities, Everyday Happenings.Tags: chips and dip, single homeowner, single hostess, singlism, trader joe's
13 comments
OH NO! Onely committed singlism twice in one day!
The first time was in Trader Joe’s:
“My writing group’s coming to my house for the first time tomorrow, so I’m shopping for really great snacks,” I told one of the staff with whom I’m pretty friendly. “I’m nervous because they all have these big, clean, decorated houses and I have. . . well, not to stereotype,” (and so you know I’m going to go ahead and stereotype) “but I live in a single girl townhome.” (more…)
Tag-team Blogging March 24, 2009
Posted by Onely in Food for Thought, Great Onely Activities, Secret Lives of the Happily Single, single and happy, We like. . ..Tags: blogging as a team, importance of friendship, single friends, single people, we love being single
11 comments
When I told a friend of mine about Onely, he said, “Does anyone ever mention how funny it is that there are two of you writing a blog together about being single?” No, no one ever does. In fact (says Christina), the irony hadn’t even occurred to Lisa or I until that friend of mine mentioned it.
And it is ironic–on the surface. While Lisa and I are jumping up and down on our respective couches yelling about the benefits of solo living, behind the scenes we’re running Onely sort of like a marriage: we are a small team, bound together through common interests and goals, but also through logistics (shared copyrights and creative license, server bills, etc). (more…)
“OneTouch” Ad Commits Two “Isms” in Two Lines March 23, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Everyday Happenings, Heteronormativity, Just Saying..Tags: brad and angelina, diabetes, lesbian marriage, lifescan, marriage mythology, Onetouch, onetouch chris, sexist wedding traditions, single people, singlism in advertising
16 comments
(David-i98, Wikicommons)
Usually doctors’ waiting room magazines are where I look for my Brad and Angelina updates, but the other day I happened upon something else: an ad for OneTouch Diabetes Monitor that double-dips into singlism and sexism. Yay!
In the print ad, the headline across the man’s face reads, “Chris. Newly diagonosed. Motivated. Father.” Then in smaller text, Chris himself says,
I’m only three weeks into being a guy with diabetes, so I’m learning to check my blood sugar. Why? Maya, my four and a half year old daughter. I will dance at her wedding.
Onely.Org 