Confesh time: A few years back, as a monogamist who couldn't seem to find the right person to be monogamous with, I actually read He's Just Not That Into You, even though everyone I knew was making fun of it. Though I don't recall much about it now, I seem to remember thinking of it as a guilty pleasure. And after a period of reading a few of these relationship advice books and stashing them under my bed where they wouldn't be seen, I got over it.
But now Hollywood is making sure the much-heralded, much-derided phrase "He's Just Not That Into You" lingers on, with the release of the rom com of the same name, this Friday.
Salon's Broadsheet got a panel of writers together to summarize and/or revisit their thoughts on the HJNTIY phenomenon. Overall, they're not thrilled with it, but not everyone in the group is against it, either.
Rebecca Traister remarked, "I continue to be fascinated by the self-flagellating appeal of this phrase and the purported female liberation that comes along with it."
Sarah Hepola admits "a secret fondness for the phrase."
From Mary Elizabeth Williams: "It's helpful to remember that I don't need to persuade anybody to like me, and yes, I am simple enough to appreciate an ideology that fits on a Post-it."
Still (Scanner Colleen here again), while I personally am in favor of not persuing one (of either gender) who is just not that into another (of either gender), I won't be heading out to see that piece of schlock any time soon.
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