A Closer Look At Oxford's Runner Up For Word Of The Year
Oxford's 2023 Word of the Year is “rizz” - which is kind of…meh. More interestingly, a runner up for word of the year was "situationship" -- a romantic relationship that is not bound or defined by typical norms and expectations. The buzz of this concept represents changing attitudes around relationships, but also when you look back on 2023's entertainment landscape, navigating situationships has been everywhere and everything...
While embracing an in-between nature of relationships is often just part of being young, according to PEW Research, a record-high share of 40 year olds in the US have never been married. In 1980, only 6% of 40 year olds had never been married compared to 25% today. Perhaps people are re-defining relationships because dating apps have unleashed a paradox of choice. Or maybe we’re seeing romance being redefined as a bit of a rebellion against the inevitable trappings of domestic roles. You can certainly feel a cultural reframing of "singlehood" across social, where being single has become more a symbol of empowerment and self-love than what was once a marker of a missed milestone. According to a recent Tinder study, 54% of those looking for situationships said the main benefit was that they would “get time to develop a relationship with less pressure.”
As culture tests the boundaries of what a relationship can and should be, of course that process is not without its own insecurities. So it’s not surprising when you take a look back at 2023 and see what a year in pop culture we’ve had helping audiences navigate situationships across everything from the allure of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, to the resonance of The Summer I Turned Pretty or more recent series My Life With The Walter Boys, to the nature of Spotify's top globally streamed songs of 2023 with Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" and SZA's "Kill Bill", to the internet's fascination with not only Will and Jada, but also Drake’s budding romance with a Turks & Caicos bartender. And of course, let us not forget 2023’s biggest box office hit, where Barbie and Ken let audiences into what has always been a connection beyond a friendship...but not quite a traditional relationship.