Last year, Emma Watson sparked a debate about the idea of being “self-partnered”. 

Redefining her relationship status as a single woman sent the internet into meltdown, perhaps unsurprisingly. On the one hand, it was a refreshing move to rewrite the words used to tell her own life’s narrative. But some people also questioned why there’s still stigma around “being single”. 

Ultimately though, Watson is free to describe her status however the hell she wants, and it clearly struck a chord with a lot of women across the globe.

Now, actor Charlize Theron has reignited the discussion by speaking about “self-dating”. 

Appearing on Diane Von Furstenberg’s Spotify podcast, InCharge with DVF, Theron shared a discussion she had with her young daughters.

“Two days ago I was in the car with my two girls and my little one said something like ‘You need a boyfriend!’ Theron explained.

“And I said, ‘Actually, I don’t. Right now, I feel really good,’ and she’s like, ‘You know what, mom? You just need a boyfriend, you need a relationship!’

“She had this look in her eye like she had never really contemplated that that was even a possibility.

“Her mind was blown. But, I know that was the day that she realised there’s a different possibility.”

While Theron is of course under no obligation to discuss her relationship status, her candour is refreshing at a time when society still only expects women to be truly happy in a relationship.

She explored this, continuing: “I really do believe that women really make shit happen for themselves, and I think this idea of relationships sometimes gets… society approaches it in a sense of like, obviously that is something you need and want, and that really hasn’t been the case for me.

“I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something in my life, it’s just not something I’m looking out for right now. I think that time will come.”

Theron also said that, if she did start a relationship, she would have to live separately from them.

“I think if I met the love of my life, we would have to buy a house down the street,” she added.

“I remember when Gwyneth Paltrow married her husband Brad and they lived in separate homes, people made such a stink about it. I was like, ‘That’s my kind of relationship’.”

You can listen to the full episode of InCharge with DVF on Spotify.

Images: Getty