Even if you start casually seeing someone, there will come a time in the relationship when you will have to ask yourself, "Now what?"
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Reddit user Angry2320 recently reached that point with the guy she was seeing and he made it really easy for the woman to answer that question.
His brash comments about her looks and repeated suggestions to wear more makeup convinced her that there was no future for the two of them and she decided to break up with him. But as she revealed on the subreddit r/PettyRevenge, not before getting back at him one last time.
Normally, breaking up with people isn't something we enjoy
Image credits: Engin Akyurt (not the actual image)
But this woman felt liberated after ending one of her recent relationships
Image credits: GaudiLab (not the actual image)
Image credits: Okrasyuk (not the actual image)
Image credits: angry2320
Relationships with no clear definitions have a risk of getting messy
According to Paulette Sherman, PhD, author of the book Facebook Dating: From First Date to Soulmate, communication is key when you're trying to navigate situationships—romantic or sexual entanglements where people haven't established the nature of their relationships.
Both parties need to "be honest and direct," Sherman explains.
However, after you set your boundaries, you also have to stick to them. If you're seeing someone 3 or more times a week and leaving your toothbrush at their place, you've bypassed the realm of casual dating.
To help avoid this, Sherman suggests establishing a routine. "Some people see each other every Friday or on the weekends," she says. But when you're spending multiple days together and meeting each other's parents, you're definitely moving towards a relationship.
"Ask yourself what sex means to you. Whether you're going to be sleeping around or you're just going to be seeing each other, be up-front with them."
Stories like the one we just read are becoming more widespread. Tinder's 2022 Year in Swipe report showed that the top dating trend among singles from age 18 to 25 was that they were "owning the situationship as a valid relationship status."
The platform had a 49% increase in members adding the phrase to their Tinder bios between January and October 2022.
However, they can get messy. Myisha Battle, a sex and dating coach and author of This Is Supposed to Be Fun: How to Find Joy in Hooking Up, Settling Down, and Everything in Between, says the thing with situationships is that there's no end game in sight.
"With friends-with-benefits, there's a kind of implicit understanding that there'll be no hard feelings if it doesn't work out," she explains. "But with situationships, I think people are just seeing where things go, and maybe one person will have a vision of some kind of future, whereas the other might not."
Image credits: Vera Arsic (not the actual image)
As the story went viral, its author told everyone more about what happened in the comments
And people have had a lot to say about it
