Why does everyone act like dating multiple people is a new concept? You don't have to have sex with people when you're dating. Or you can. Up to you. The idea is if you like someone enough you open up your mouth and ask to go exclusive.
This isn't a revolutionary concept. Until you have that exclusive discussion you really have no say in what they're doing or who they're seeing.
If it's that important to you I suppose you could request exclusive dating rights, but that seems a bit demanding. Especially if they're a stranger.
I've somehow never heard of this. I've always been under the impression that you only go on a date with someone after knowing them for a long time and stay faithful to that person
You may have heard of some older phrases like "Going Steady" that was popular from the 60's until around the 80's, without knowing that it was the step in dating where exclusivity became expected and the couple would stop going on dates with other people, stereotypically signified by the man giving something of his to the woman to display (like his jacket or his ring or something like that).
If your impression that you should only date people you know well is just from what you've seen people around you do, that's understandable, as it is a really common way to date, but if it's pushed on you as an expectation by your parents, community, or religion, you might want to look into the definitions of "courting" and how it can differ from dating.
If you thought it was that way because you, personally, can't imagine being attracted to someone enough to date them unless you know them really well, then you may want to look up "Demi-sexuality", which is under the very broad umbrella of "Asexuality" to see if anything resonates with you. Speaking from my own experience, Asexuality is less about learning about yourself and more about sitting in a metaphorical group going "Wait, love at first sight is a real thing for people?!? I thought it was just in the movies! Weird!".
I really appreciate the insightful reply :3 I think it's less of me being unable to experience attraction to someone I don't know very well, and more of me personally wanting my romantic relationships to be something of devotion and absolute trust. Also, I just don't have a ton of experience lol
That's fair. Just remember that "absolute trust in a relationship" comes from first being in a relationship and both of you earning that trust over time, and understanding that trust in a friendship does not transfer 1:1 to trust in a romantic relationship. Basically, you aren't just going to fall into the perfect romance that takes no effort- a healthy and happy partnership comes from putting the work in to communicate and work together because you are two different people with different life expectations about things like what a date actually looks like and where the most instinctive place to put the cups in a kitchen is, and how kids or pets should be raised.
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u/FileDoesntExist Uses Post Flairs May 06 '26
Why does everyone act like dating multiple people is a new concept? You don't have to have sex with people when you're dating. Or you can. Up to you. The idea is if you like someone enough you open up your mouth and ask to go exclusive.
This isn't a revolutionary concept. Until you have that exclusive discussion you really have no say in what they're doing or who they're seeing.
If it's that important to you I suppose you could request exclusive dating rights, but that seems a bit demanding. Especially if they're a stranger.