dating

When people ask about lowering their standards and whether it's worth it to do so, the answer to that question depends on what those standards are. You didn't describe yours in detail, so I don't have much to go on, but in general, I'd divide what people tend to call "standards" into two types of...

Think you might be asexual, or just curious about the ace community? Alaina Leary has the details.

Young people don’t arrive at their conclusions about appropriate romantic behavior in a vacuum; they’re influenced by a myriad of messages, including input from the adults in their lives. Sometimes that input includes ideas that end up exacerbating issues around rejection and dating. One of the ways we can work towards a world in which acts like this no longer happen, a world in which people, and women in particular, aren’t afraid their “no” will make them a target of violence, is to make a concerted effort to help the young people in our lives learn to deal with rejection in healthy ways. With that in mind, we’ve put together recommendations to assist adults in doing exactly that.

Hi Lily, Loneliness can be a real bummer, can't it? Especially when you're in a stage of transition — getting ready to go to college, leaving your old life behind — it's easy to get a little anxious about what might lie ahead in the future. Take a deep breath, pour yourself a cup of tea, and let's...

I'm so sorry to hear that your friends' behavior has got you feeling this way, Liv. From the sound of things, even if they're not doing it on purpose, they're souring what otherwise sounds like something that's been pretty nice for you and is also obviously a formative life experience. A first...

Dear Anonymous, When I first got your question in my inbox, I was really excited to write a response, because I have felt the same as you at different times in my life. As a disabled teenager, the idea of having an anonymous hook-up felt weird, inappropriate, and simply didn’t feel like “the right...

Hi Gracie! What an honor to be trusted with your boyfriend's first coming out conversation; picking the first person to talk to out loud about your sexuality can be very scary. It sounds like he loves and trusts you, but this revelation is raising some questions for you, which is understandable...

Every relationship is different, and when you’re polyamorous, that means that you may have several different relationships going on all at once. One issue to think about is the relationship structure that works for you, and how to make it work with your partners. Remember that this can be in a constant state of evolution, but communication is necessary for changes to take place.

The start of a relationship can feel very fluid — you may date several people while you get to know them, and might pick up, stop, shift and start relationships at various points. Sometimes you can find yourself in a situation where you aren't entirely sure if you're "officially" dating someone at all, but it sure feels like you might be. As a relationship starts to evolve into something more structured or long-term, you may want to have a deeper conversation about the form you want your relationship to take. For you, that may mean bringing up polyamory — or having your partner bring it up, in which case, this guide is for you too!

(Mostly) everything (okay, okay, not mostly everything, but a lot) you wanted to know about polyamory.