I’m not a fan of women’s magazines. I’ll admit that, in college, I was an addict–there were always stacks of Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, and Allure by my bed. But, over the years, I’ve stopped reading them. They just make me feel inadequate in every area of my life. The fashion articles make me feel unfashionabale. The hair and makeup articles make me feel ugly. The social life articles make me feel unsocialable. And the dating articles… well, you get the picture.
Anyway, the other day I bought a copy of Glamour just because it’s been… wow, probably nearly a year… since I last read one and I figured “Hey, why not?”
Well, unsurprisingly, it made me feel like crap. However, there was one article that I found pretty interesting…
It was a special report (titled “Sex With A Stranger”) about the new hook up trend sweeping across the country. People log onto sites like Fling.com, AdultFriendFinder, and OnlineBootyCall (to name a few) for the sole purpose of meeting up with total strangers and having sex. Technically, it’s free sex on demand. All you have to do is log onto a website and say, “Hey, anyone up for a romp?” Quick, easy, to the point, and, in a budget conscience culture, FREE! It makes good, old-fashioned prostitution seem…well… old-fashioned!
For the people that do it often, it’s a thrilling (albeit dangerous) experience. But if you’re like me, you can’t help but worry a little bit. I’m far from a prude, but I’m also not an advocate of a sexual free-for-all. Has sex become so meaningless that people think nothing of jumping into bed with complete strangers night after night..after night…after night?
And how does this affect our dating and love lives? Are we expected to just give it up on the first date without any hesitation? Are we at risk of being dumped because we won’t jump into bed within the first few months of a new relationship (which has happened to both me and several dear friends of mine)? Whatever happened to playing “hard to get”?
Is real love still possible in a world where people hook up and break up at a lightning pace? Is it crazy for us to still dream of “happily ever afters”? Has the dating game been reduced to nothing more than a complicated quest to get someone into bed?
It’s no wonder that so many people throw in the towel…
