“…I’ll admit that many times over the last year when I was feeling too burnt-out from work to produce a really high-quality joke about second-wave feminist ghosts or something, I’d give in to social media’s seductive promise of instant validation, and I’d go for the easy joke about being a sad single lady who likes chocolate and wants a man because: ACK! I told myself I was making these jokes ironically, but the reality was, I was often writing them when I was feeling scared or guilty or angry about things that had nothing to do with being single, but I filtered my emotions through the relationship lens because it was easy. Rather than use those ‘negative’ emotional periods to create raw rough drafts that I would refine when I was feeling more balanced, I acted out in the hopes of getting some sign that my voice mattered.”–Sarah Rainone on what she’s “learned about love after a year alone (and a lot of bad jokes)”
