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Casual relationship |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008) |
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Affinity · Attachment · Bonding · Boyfriend · Casual · Cohabitation · Compersion · Concubinage · Consort · Courtesan · Courtship · Divorce · Domestic partnership · Dower / Dowry / Bride price · Family · Friendship · Girlfriend · Husband · Infatuation · Intimacy · Jealousy · Limerence · Love · Marriage · Monogamy · Psychology of monogamy · Serial monogamy · Nonmonogamy · Passion · Pederasty · Platonic love · Polyamory · Polyfidelity · Polygamy · Relationship abuse · Relationship breakup · Romance · Romantic friendship · Separation · Sexuality · Same-sex relationship · Significant other · Soulmate · Teen dating violence · Wedding · Widowhood · Wife · |
Casual relationship is a term used to describe the physical and emotional relationship between two people who may have a sexual relationship or a near-sexual relationship without necessarily demanding or expecting a more formal relationship as a goal. It is more than just casual sex and different from a one-night stand. Related terms are "pals with privileges", "cut friends", an "extended hookup", a "fling", "friends with extras", "friends with benefits", "friends with privileges", "bene-friends", "sex buddies", and a "sexualized friendship". There are significant gender and cultural differences in acceptance of and breadth of casual relationships,[1][2][3][4] as well as in regrets about action/inaction in those relationships.[5]
A casual relationship may be part time, or for a limited time, and may or may not be monogamous. The term encompasses friendships between people who enjoy each other's physical intimacy but do not aspire to be long-term, and may or may not involve parties who desire temporary relationships purely for hedonistic purposes. In each case, the relationship's dominance in the lives of those involved is being voluntarily limited, and there is usually a sense that the relationship is intended to endure only so long as both parties wish it to.
To the extent such relationship include casual sexual contact, the relationship is generally focused on fulfilling sexual rather than romantic or emotional needs.
Motives for casual relationships vary, and should be distinguished from casual sex, which is a specific type of casual relationship. Casual relationships sometimes include mutual support, affection and enjoyment, which underpin other forms of loving relationship.
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
Although this sort of relationship is often portrayed as a relatively new phenomenon, the phrase "friends with benefits" was around for many years before it was popularized for a younger generation in the mid-1990s by the Alanis Morissette song "Head Over Feet" and a decade later in the television series Boston Legal.
The television series Sex and the City focused further on casual sexual relationships. The intent of a casual relationship can vary: sometimes to relieve sexual frustrations and other times simply as a friendship or part-time relationship, which includes sexual activity when wished. Usually a casual relationship is not intended as a monogamous relationship. It is also not always synonymous with casual sex, since it might even not include sex.
Sometimes both parties are free to date and engage in sex acts with other persons, however, others choose to have exclusive casual relationships. These types of relationships effectively give an outlet for sexual and intimacy needs without the potential stress and time-demands of a committed relationship. Two people may elect to become friends with benefits because they are unwilling to commit to a full-fledged relationship or long term relationship for whatever reason.
This arrangement is common among young professionals, who put a lot of time into work and therefore do not have time for a boyfriend or girlfriend.citation needed
Casual sex refers to certain types of sexual activity outside the context of a romantic relationship. The term is not always used consistently; some use it to refer to any extramarital sex, while some use it to refer to sex in a casual relationship.[6][7]
While providing a legitimate sexual outlet, the practice of casual sex often carries negative connotations. In some sexual relationships among teenagers in the U.S., the predominant activity is not penetrative sex, but rather oral sex and mutual masturbation. Many teenagers recognize that this reduces the risks associated with sexual promiscuity such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Some medical authorities such as Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a professor of pediatrics, suggests that teenagers do not view oral sex as "real sex" and use it to remain in a state of "technical" virginity.[8]
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