Onely.org, the world-famous singles' advocacy blog (well, as world-famous as singles' advocacy blogs get), will be cross-posting here on Open Salon in honor of Unmarried and Single Americans Week (Sept. 18-24 2011). So watch this space! But not too closely. We're not sure yet when our first official post will go up, and we wouldn't want you to sit around waiting for us and miss your yoga or Little League or bowel movement. (Though it would be kind of awesome if you were that excited about our debut.)

Onely's core philosophy is, "Single, and so what?" Co-founders Lisa and Christina both enjoy being single. We may or may not be single for the rest of our lives. We don’t really care either way. And we don't think other people should care, either: not the strangers who ask when we're getting married, not the friends who suggest we seek therapy for our supposed fear of attachment--and certainly not the U.S. government, one of the very worst perpetrators of discrimination and prejudice against singles (aka singlism).

The U.S. federal code contains over a thousand laws where marriage status plays a role, overwhelmingly privileging people with spouses at the expense of single people (and gays who are unable to marry). With such discrimination actually inscribed in our legal code, is it any wonder that the stigma against singles also carries over into social spheres?

We're all familiar with the tropes of the crazy cat lady and the serial killer or playboy bachelor. Most of us at one point or another have been asked variations of The Question, "Are you seeing anyone yet?" where the speaker implies that singlehood is inherently less desirable than couplehood. We've seen the "studies" saying that married people live longer, happier lives than singles.

Onely's mission is to bust up these myths and make fun of the heteronormaholes who perpetuate them. (We're looking at you, U.S. Government and that lady from Christina's cooking class who wanted Christina to meet her son "so we can get you started on your life!")

We hope you'll join us as we battle singlism with words and action (that is, as we crouch behind our computer screens muttering indignantly and gnawing on chocolate).

To be clear (and you might be amazed how often we have to make this point), we are not against love, or relationships, or marriage, or children. We simply stand against the misapplication of the value of these experiences. In other words, when society values those who are in relationships at the expense of people who are not, we think it’s wrong. We’re definitely against that.

We love to hear from single people of all stripes, but we're particularly interested in learning more about the experiences of singles in different demographics from ourselves. Christina and Lisa both self-identify as upper-middle-class white females in the U.S. who live alone. So we want to become more familiar with the trials and triumphs experienced by single males, single homosexuals, single parents, singles of color, singles who live with roommates or family, and even singles who live with a significant other (who are legally if not socially single). 

If you want to share your experiences on the topic of singlehood, please comment here on Open Salon, or on Onely, or on our Facebook page.

And thanks for watching this space!

--Christina and Lisa