Love

5 Things Men Love About Being Single

man with lipstick kiss on face

Make no mistake, men love being coupled up…but they dig being single, too. We asked bachelor and dating blogger Abraham Lloyd for his take on the things men love about being unattached.

1. He can flirt. "At some point, men wake up and realize that they are 1) swimming in a sea of women, and 2) women are awesome," Lloyd says. Single men feel free to "flirt early, flirt often, flirt always, and flirt with whomever you want." And they can do it guilt-free, without worrying whether they're crossing the line. Hey, we don't blame them: we love to flirt too! 

2. He can be selfish. With no brunches to attend, friends to meet, or family to tolerate, single men have the luxury of calling the shots 100 percent of the time. "There is no need to be selfless or unconditional with anyone," Lloyd says. "Relationships are riddled with compromise, and eventually you will have to sacrifice something for the good of your partnership."

3. He can focus. We've been there: the first flush of romance, when you can't eat, sleep, or work and spend all of your time with your new beau, thinking about him, or boring your single friends with repetitive stories of the terribly romantic thing he did the other day. Extra hours in the office turn into sneaking out early to meet for a long weekend away, and you take breaks every 30 minutes to fire off an e-love note. Lovely, sure. But hardly productive. When you're single, Lloyd says, "whether you're passionate about your career, family, hobbies, or other activities, being single means that you can choose to focus on these things without sacrificing your love life." Want to work through the weekend on a new proposal? Great. 

4. He can live unapologetically. No girlfriend means fewer chances to mess up. "In Love Story, Ali McGraw shared one of the love lines of all-time when she said 'Being in love means never having to say I'm sorry,'" Lloyd says, adding, "Well, being single means having to say I'm sorry even less."

5. The world is his oyster. "Being single means being a consumer about your next relationship; we get to choose," Lloyd says. For single men, the world is their oyster, and that oyster is filled with beautiful, fantastic women dying to date them. Accurate or not, it's an exciting feeling. The power to choose is empowering, Lloyd says, adding "instead of being with someone less than perfect in hindsight, living with compromise, and wondering about what could have been, we get to live life looking forward to what will be next."

Readers, what do you like or dislike about being single?