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ORIGINAL: themischievous1
"Friends with Benefits"
I'm sure it has always been around. It's just that its name is being bandied about a lot more and I'm sure a lot of us have already tried it with various success rates, whether willingly or unwillingly. It used to also go by the name of "fuck buddy."
Do you think more women are beginning to desire, accept, or even tolerate this type of arrangement, more than they used to say twenty years ago? Why does it seem as if this kind of thing is becoming the norm now?(certainly for men at least, or am I wrong about that and women are embracing this idea too?) Is everyone becoming seriously jaded to real intimacy and commitment?
Probably because the only reason it wasn't incredibly common before was because of unreliable ways to avoid making babies.
What I see occurring is that few are willing to make a marital commitment anymore, even though they seem to be willing to embrace the idea of a long term relationship and living together. When the tough times hit though, most aren't making their LTR's last, are they? I'm also wondering how any kind of serious D/s, M/s, or other lifestyle dynamics can develop the necessary trust to survive, much less possibly exist 24/7 in a friends with benefits type of arrangement.
As soon as the law allowed people to get divorced because they just didn't get along anymore the divorce rate shot up to 50 percent and has stayed relatively close to there since then. The sad fact of life is that your standerd LTR only has a 50-50 shot of staying together. I highly doubt this is a new thing. Now society just lets people in LTRs break up without a whole lot of social stigma.
I've always likened this kind of "relationship" to a very casual arrangement for sexual gratification purposes and convenience. It seems more and more though that many people will tell you they want a long term relationship when they really only intend to be your fuck buddy or a friend with benefits. So how do you tell the difference between those who are on the level and are seeking something more meaningful and those who just want the casual? Often it seems that if you start into the playing, scening, and various other intimate sexual activities that you've already started on the path toward the friends with benefits relationship. And if not, what makes it more meaningful and permanent for you so that it doesn't turn into this?