Emma Watson isn’t single; she’s “self-partnered”. Or at least, that’s how she chose to describe her relationship status in a new interview with British Vogue.

The activist, who turns 30 next April and who is currently not in a relationship, explained that when she was younger she didn’t believe people when they said they were happy to be single.

“I was like, ‘This is totally a spiel’,” she said. “It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]; I call it being self-partnered,” she now says.

As someone who is also single, I understand. And, while I probably won’t be calling myself “self-partnered” any time soon, I welcome new ways to describe those of us who are not currently in long-term monogamous relationships.

10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Show all 10 1 /10 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Emma Watson During a 2011 Interview with Vogue, actor Emma Watson opened about her failures. 'I don’t want the fear of failure to stop me from doing what I really care about,' she told the publication. Getty 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Michael Jordan In a 2006 Nike commercial titled 'Failure', basketball star Michael Jordan shared his low moments during his sporting career. 'I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career,' the sportsman said in the clip. 'I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Oprah Winfrey TV presenter and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey talked about failure in her 2013 Harvard Commencement address. 'There is no such thing as failure,' she told the audience. 'Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Taylor Swift Singer Taylor Swift spoke to her audiences during her 2013-14 'Red Tour' about how to have the confidence to keep fighting for succcess. 'Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again… even though every time you’ve tried before you’ve lost.' she told her fans. Getty Images for NARAS 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Malala Yousafzai Women’s education activist Malala Yousafzai spoke about the importance of standing up for what you believe in during an ABC interview in 2013. The 22-year-old said: 'I think life is dangerous. Some people get afraid of it. Some people don’t go forward. But some people, if they want to achieve their goal, they have to go, they have to move.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Beyoncé In ‘“Self-titled”: Part 2. Imperfection’, a mini-documentary posted by the singer on YouTube in 2013, Beyoncé opened up about the importance of failing in life. 'The reality is, sometimes you lose,' she said. 'And you’re never too good to lose, you’re never too big to lose, you’re never too smart to lose, it happens. And it happens when it needs to happen. And you have to embrace those things.' Getty Images for Coachella 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure J.K. Rowling In a 2008 Harvard Commencement address about the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination, author J.K Rowling stated: 'It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default. Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Hillary Clinton Ending her 2008 campaign for US President, former Senator and Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reflected on her journey. 'Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in,' she said. 'And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Maya Angelou The late American poet is widely believed to have once stated: 'Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.' Getty Images 10 Celebrity Quotes on success and failure Sandra Bullock Actor Sandra Bullock shared her reflections on her fears in an interview with the Express in 2013. 'I was afraid of being a failure, of not having the best time or of being chicken,' she told the publication. 'But every year I get older I think, "what was I fearing last year?" you forget. And then you move on.' Getty Images

I’ve long cringed at the word “single”. I find it hard to identify with when I see generalised articles about “singles” loving or hating life, or hear Beyonce sing about all her “single ladies”. It’s never sounded like a club I want to be in.

The dictionary tells us that to be single is simply to be “only one; not one of several”. Or more specifically; “unmarried or not involved in a stable sexual relationship”.

But that seems too simple for our modern, messy, chaotic world and the many different types of relationships people have, or for how relationships change over time.

In a Tinder age, perhaps Watson is right; we need new definitions.

Because it’s hard to identify with a label that defines you by your relationship status when your relationship status feels fluid. Over the years I’ve been single, I’ve sometimes been dating and sometimes not. I’ve spent several months dating the same person, or seen people casually, and I’ve had many close friendships. I’ve rarely been completely alone and I’ve not always felt “single,” even when I technically have been.

The word “single” also feels old-fashioned and a bit sad-sack, to me. It makes me think of Bridget Jones, a desperate dinner-for-one, and of being alone at a party. But my life doesn’t look like that – and I doubt Watson, a famous actress and activist, lives her life that way, either.

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Society often makes people – particularly women – feel inadequate if we are not partnered up in a conventional way. From a young age, women are encouraged to place their self-worth on their relationship status. We are defined by whether we are perceived to be available sexual partners or not and then judged if we don’t play by the rules.

In recent years, I’ve noticed that single women have started to speak up, to say they enjoy being single, actually, or to more accurately describe the shades of grey in their lives.

But maybe it’s time to go a bit further than that. Maybe it’s time to reject the labels prescribed to us altogether if we want to and in the space that’s left, we can create new ways to describe ourselves and the way we are choosing to live. Maybe you’re “self-partnered,” maybe you’re single-ish, or maybe it’s complicated and you’re still figuring it out.