I hate using the word “boyfriend.” Something about it is just so… Infantilizing. I mean, we’re both over 30 and we’ve been together for four years. He’s not a boy; I’m not a girl; and there’s a part of me that feels like referring to each other as “girlfriend” and “boyfriend” makes our relationship seem less serious. Sure, we’re not married yet but that doesn’t mean we’re not in a long-term relationship with joint credit cards and lease agreements and all that other grown-up stuff. It just seems weird to use the same word to describe this partner that I used to describe my high school boyfriend, you know?
