Dating

Whether you call it dating, hanging out or hooking up, here’s information about the ways we can intentionally seek to get to know each other, particularly with an eye towards sexual or romantic connections.

Articles and Advice in this area:

Article
  • Abigail Moss

Dynamics like mine require a lot of honesty, and often speaking honestly can make you feel vulnerable, but showing vulnerability to a partner is a good way to build trust and intimacy. At the same time, you learn a lot about yourself as you’re forced to ask yourself tough questions and to think carefully about what you want from a relationship and why - in turn, this makes you appreciate the reasons you want to be with your partner(s), and what it is about being with them that makes you happy.

Article
  • Adam England

If you’re a bisexual guy and you haven’t been with other guys yet, the idea might seem a little daunting, for a number of reasons. The reality doesn’t have to be so tricky, however, despite the worries you might have.

Article
  • Ellen Friedrichs

If you are a teen or young adult who lives at home during COVID-19, and are dating or sexually active with a partner, navigating this part of your life – with your partner, with parents or guardians – is complicated. A lot of households and families are having to negotiate what the new dating normal looks like. Here are some ideas to help make those discussions smoother.

Article
  • Jamie J. LeClaire

When it comes to sex and dating beyond the binary, not only are we given no blueprint, no representation, and no guide whatsoever, but we’re also working against the heteronormative messages we’ve all been indoctrinated with by media and culture from birth. Here are five ways I’ve learned to safely and creatively navigate dating spaces as a nonbinary person.

Advice
  • Sam Wall

We do frequently get questions about how to ask someone out but, as with so many things since the pandemic started, we’re having to adapt our standard advice to reflect our current circumstances. So, thank you for asking this question! Let’s start with the obstacles of not having a way to contact…

Article
  • Cass Ball

Last summer, when I was half a year into being newly single and telling myself and my friends that I was “just doing me” or “dating myself,” I realized: I wasn’t actually dating myself if I wasn’t putting in the work. Since then, I’ve been working on developing tangible strategies for dating myself. I am sharing these strategies with you, hoping that they may help illuminate the beautiful, confusing, nearsighted path back towards yourself.

Advice
  • Sam Wall

I’ll be honest, Tre: dating apps can be a great option for some people, but you’re far from the first person to come to Scarleteen brimming with frustration over your experiences on them. While they can put us in the orbit of cool people who’d we’d otherwise never meet, they can also pressure us to…

Advice
  • Mo Ranyart

First off, in case it helps to hear this: it’s all right to want to break up with your boyfriend. You’re allowed to end a relationship for any reason, and “I only want to date women, and my partner is now very clearly not a woman” is a perfectly valid one. Sometimes, a person’s gender transition…

Article
  • Cass Ball

It can feel like the world will end if you haven’t had sex or a sexual or romantic relationship by your mid-twenties. There are countless ways in which our culture puts pressure on young people to gain experience in romantic and sexual relationships. But truthfully, if you don’t have much, or even any, experience with dating and sex, you are not doomed to never experience romantic and sexual connection. The world also will not end.

Article
  • Sam Wall
  • Heather Corinna

A short, fast, sex ed summary about crushes, and some simple dos and don’ts when you have one.