Relationships 

Advertisement

Single and sensitive

Dear Single
Your sister-in-law is what Bridget Jones called a 'smug married'. They're irritating people who sit in judgement on the rest of us, feeling oh so pleased with themselves. Their message seems to be that they have worked out life while you are a walking tragedy. Their newspaper of choice is the Daily Mail.

I don't think that there is anything indirect about your sister-in-law's remarks. If you kept telling a short person that you hate short people, what would you expect them to conclude? You could try quoting her statistics about how the mental and physical health of a single woman is far better than that of a married one. If she doesn't work, you could say that women who sponge off their husbands are leeches. Or why not tell her how boring sex would become if you had to do it with one person forever? Unfortunately, because she's married to your brother, you can't endlessly reiterate divorce figures at her.

Tact won't work. A single woman is constantly vulnerable to attack from everyone. You have no one to protect you, so you have to be strong. Tell her that when she says derogatory things about single women you can't help taking it personally. Ask her what she thinks is 'wrong' with you? Explain that you hope one day to meet the right man and if you can avoid sounding angry you might even engage her sympathy. It's annoying to have to humour someone so lacking in consideration, but as she's related to you, you really have no choice.

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB