I always say I don't physically have a type except radically different to me because I always think two-thirds of beauty lies in fascination. I think there's something beautiful in that post-coital moment where you look at someone and think 'How are you put together? I could spend the rest of my life mapping your face because it's so different to my own.'
I was 28 and fed up with the dating scene. Swiping had become a ritual of ghosting, small talk, and scheduling conflicts. I work in business development for a US law firm in Hong Kong and was chasing a promotion, so it was easy to tell myself romance could wait. Then, one night, a casual scroll on Instagram inspired me to try something different.
Unmatch, unswipe, un-whatever-you-need-to-do. Yes, things happen; days get unmanageable; kids have minor crises. But the upside of being in this age where we're perpetually reachable at all hours is that when something unexpected happens, we can communicate about it. You're connected to this man through three platforms now text, the old app, and the new app. And yet he couldn't find a way to say the simplest thing on the day of the coffee: I'm not going to make it. I'm sorry for keeping you.
Dating today often feels like that. We've absorbed the language of evaluation- vetting, red flags, emotional availability -and use it as a kind of self-protection. Instead of exploring connection, we assess it. What used to be discovery now feels like a performance review. And it's not just happening early in dating. Many long-term partners fall into the same trap. They mentally grade each other's progress: Are they growing fast enough? Meeting my needs? Doing the work? Love slowly turns into management.
He agreed ― we shouldn't be. And that was that. I'd never ended a relationship over religion. Disagreements about having children? Absolutely. Political beliefs? Yes. The guy being a jerk? Oh, sure. But if you'd asked me whether I'd break up with a man I was falling in love with over religion ― Greek Orthodox or any other ― I wouldn't have even considered it a possibility.
It's well known that dating apps are a nightmare, that hell is empty and all the demons are on Hinge, to the extent people aren't really allowed to complain about it any more. It would sound like whining about getting run over after you couldn't be bothered to use an underpass, so you just ran across a motorway and hoped for the best.
It's now cuffing season, when many singles scramble to find short-term partners to help them get through the upcoming holiday season and what may seemingly be the dreariest and loneliest months of the year. Cuffing is short for handcuffing from October through March; people temporarily handcuff themselves to partners before the release in the following Spring. But before you partake in this annual singles dating ritual off the cuff-meaning without thinking it through-it's important to be mindful of the risks.
If you've been scrolling Hinge, going out every weekend, and picking up new hobbies, yet still haven't met the perfect partner, it's officially time to turn to the stars. According to astrologers, your birth chart is full of clues that can point you towards the right person - if you know where to look. In a viral TikTok shared Oct. 22, creator and astrologer @kimannieastro said you don't just meet your soul mate by accident.
Well, the answer does depend on the person and the circumstances of the dates. Dates are, in essence, experimental samples of what the person may be really like. Naturally, the more samples you have, the more accurate picture you'll have. At the same time, each date does come with a cost in time, effort, and faith in humanity. Therefore, you don't necessarily want to be saying,
He said, "We have. I've not been inside you, but we've done stuff." He even tried to lie to me and said that we've given each other blowjobs. I said, "Correction, I gave YOU a blowjob." His mouth hasn't been anywhere near that part of my body. I know what you might be thinking, and this man is not asexual. (Unless he's been lying to me about that, too.)
Depressingly, this seemed normal in the 00s and demanded a specific type of vigilance. As well as trying to look perfect for every date, there was also the effort of trying to be perfect: bright and funny and engaging and fragrant, but also vaguely unavailable. Endearingly kooky was OK; but I didn't want to come across as weird. Misery and anger were off limits. I never risked showing I cared. No wonder love had failed to launch.
A survey recently conducted by the dating app The League asked its members what industries they would consider to be the most attractive for potential partners. Among female respondents, finance/business earned the most interest, and among male respondents, medicine/mental health seems to have gotten their hearts racing the most. That doesn't necessarily mean, though, that you have your work cut out for you, so to speak, if your career doesn't fall into one of the more favored industries.
Whether it's talking about your ex too much or your date not looking anything like their profile picture, we'd like to hear about your bad first date experiences. What happened and did you leave early or stay until the end of the date? Did it prompt any changes in how you date or did you just chalk it up to bad luck? Share your experience You can tell us about your bad first date experiences by filling in the form below.
My girlfriend Morgan and I were introduced by my realtor at the preseason game for the Chicago Sky. I'm opening a women's sports bar called Babe's, and she became an investor. We go to every home game together. For her birthday, I wrote her a novella called Courtside Connection about our relationship because she loves those sappy sapphic romance books. I have been threatening to throw a self-published book party for it at Babe's.
One Bay Area woman has taken matters into her own hands and gone analog with her search for a mate, on a fairly grand scale. Lisa Catalano, a 42-year-old San Mateo woman who owns a vintage clothing business, has paid for a series of billboards that drivers on 101 on the Peninsula may have seen over the past several weeks.
The dating app Feeld has revealed that mentions of the film studio A24 have increased 65% year-on-year in members' profiles over the past 12 months. Feeld caters for those seeking alternative relationship choices and overindexes for women and non-binary people, bisexuals and pansexuals, yet it reports that the majority of members whose profiles mention A24 are cis-gender male, straight and aged 26-30.
I have two young children, and he refuses to meet them and says he doesn't want to be involved in any child-related activities or even conversation. It makes me really sad as my children are such wonderful little people, but he just doesn't want anything to do with them. I split up with their dad years ago and we co-parent well without any issues.
If it's your job to figure out when to share this, it's also a partner's job to figure out when to ask. Wanting kids isn't like monogamy or working for a living, where until instructed otherwise people can basically assume that's your plan. More people than ever are deciding they don't want kids. The fact that you're one of them is not shocking, confronting or even especially unusual.
When you are able to calm down, you should reach out to your friend. Chances are, she is totally unaware of her behavior toward you. Because she doesn't handle stress well, she shrugs off your issues. Now, seeing her co-worker on a daily basis and observing whatever crisis she may have experienced has forced her to acknowledge someone else going through it.
He asked for my number and I texted him the next day to tell him I enjoyed meeting him. He said he wanted to see me again. I was very excited to hear this, but by the time he responded I had talked with my friend who informed me that she would be hurt if we did go out and that she had been annoyed with our flirting. So I told Dave that I was only interested in friendship for now, which is not true.
Many women are choosing to stay single over settling. Choosing to stay single allows women to preserve their inner peace and autonomy. Singleness can create space for growth, friendships, and fulfillment outside of romantic partnership. Studies continue to confirm the trending rise in single women. And yet, even though this has become more of the norm, there are still deep feelings of shame around singlehood. Many conversations I've had with clients about dating and what it means to be single confirm this experience.
We need to stop making excuses as to why it's not the right time to find love. Stop saying, 'I'm too busy'. Stop saying you'll wait until the kids are in college. Stop saying you'll do it when you lose weight. The 'right time' is when you want to find a life partner - and today is the best time to start looking.
Nura Maznavi expressed joy upon learning that Zohran Mamdani met his wife on Hinge, feeling it made her less of a loser for meeting her husband online 14 years ago.
The film 'Materialists' highlights the intersection of romance and practicality, where financial security plays a pivotal role in modern dating. This reflects a societal shift in how relationships are perceived amid economic challenges.
