‘Partner’ Is That The New ‘Boyfriend’?
Written by Tariq on March 20, 2026
Last fall, writer Chanté Joseph captured the feeling in a viral Vogue essay titled “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” “Being partnered doesn’t affirm your womanhood anymore,” she wrote. “If anything, it’s become more of a flex to pronounce yourself single.”
Among Gen Z and younger millennials, there’s a growing resistance to defining yourself through a relationship. Young women are becoming more educated and politically progressive than previous generations, not to mention their male peers, and many don’t want their identities reduced to who they’re dating. Online some have even jokingly censored the word boyfriend into “b*yfriend,” as if it were a curse. In response, more Americans — including actor Timothée Chalamet, who used the word during his Golden Globes acceptance speech when referring to Kylie Jenner — have adopted a different label: partner.
Source: Yahoo

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