Memphis, Tn- Today local 21-year-old Missy Shapiro said that having a man was not on her "wants" list. "I don't want a man, I hardly ever miss a nice warm body curled next to me on cold, lonely nights....It's just not something I stress over." To make sure everyone in the surrounding city and suburbs would know how independent Shapiro is, she has been on a quest to inform every person she comes in contact with, stranger or not, of her non-essential item-a man. "I've told my hairdresser, my mother, gas station attendants, waiters, sales clerks, and even hitchhikers that I refuse to offer a ride. I simply pull over and roll down the window and yell it at them. I think it's an effective method of making yourself heard," Shapiro said.
Shapiro has sworn on church steps, court steps, the Spanish Steps -any steps- that her life is just as full without a man as it would be if she did possess one. She has even taken to printing leaflets detailing the extent of her self-satisfaction even though she has not been courting anyone. "I usually put a picture of myself, smiling of course, and a couple bullet points saying basically that I don't have man, don't want one, and don't miss one. It's incredibly empowering to tell the whole world, or at least downtown Memphis, that I'm alone in this world," Shapiro said.
When I asked Shapiro what she spent most of her time doing she said, "I usually lie in bed, awake but not present, reading gossip mags, you know, feeding off of their sexual energy, and make myself increasingly isolated from the outside world by not venturing beyond the walls of my house unless I need to make my independence known. I've grown very fond of internet games and trolling. It distracts me from real conversations with real people." Shapiro spends upwards of 70 hours a week on online video games and their chat rooms. "I do have friends, you just can't see them."
While Shapiro is proud of her spinsterhood, she does acknowledge that other people do benefit from mutual, loving relationships. "It's not that relationships are awful, it's just that the people who do benefit are often weak." Upon asking her to elaborate Shapiro said, "Some people love the sex, the cuddling, the intimacy of mutual understanding, the caring emotional and psychological support, and yes, they love the satisfaction of saying that someone else in this world is always there for them- but that is very co-dependent isn't it? It sickens me really. I feel bad for the pathetic losers that have found their equal in the world."
I asked Shapiro if there was anything at all that she missed about having a significant other. She stood her ground and said, "I like never having conversations that actually mean something to me, and I adore going out to eat alone, staring at people in love while I eat enough for two and sob into my drink....It's really the good life, I don't share feelings, desires, wants, needs, or dreams with anyone. They're all trapped in my brain where they'll stay for all eternity, never materializing before me.... No, the single life is all I need. That and a therapist I visit once a week for my anti-depressants."
