Can someone from the US explain in the simplest possible terms how your dating system works?
Maybe it's just American TV/movies that don't accurately portray real life, but the impression I get is that you can date/sleep with multiple people at the same time without causing offence - and it's not until both parties agree to "go exclusive" (which is a major relationship milestone weeks down the road) that sex with other people is considered "cheating". There are complex rules and strategies to get potential partners to commit faster, playing hard to get or withholding sex until a defined number of dates.
In my experience the UK position is more tilted in favour of monogamy - if you have sex with someone (and it's not just an agreed one-night stand or booty-call) then you're usually "going out" which includes automatic exclusivity. I think as a result of this sex happens faster in new relationships here, often on the first/second date.
Is this something anyone else has noticed, or am I way off? For bonus points, is there a concrete definition of what each "base" equates to for rating date progress? Home base is presumably full sex, first base is kissing? Or feeling up clothed on tit? I'm just curious about the difference in US/EU attitudes, and assumptions that people make about relationships as a result.
Maybe it's just American TV/movies that don't accurately portray real life, but the impression I get is that you can date/sleep with multiple people at the same time without causing offence - and it's not until both parties agree to "go exclusive" (which is a major relationship milestone weeks down the road) that sex with other people is considered "cheating". There are complex rules and strategies to get potential partners to commit faster, playing hard to get or withholding sex until a defined number of dates.
In my experience the UK position is more tilted in favour of monogamy - if you have sex with someone (and it's not just an agreed one-night stand or booty-call) then you're usually "going out" which includes automatic exclusivity. I think as a result of this sex happens faster in new relationships here, often on the first/second date.
Is this something anyone else has noticed, or am I way off? For bonus points, is there a concrete definition of what each "base" equates to for rating date progress? Home base is presumably full sex, first base is kissing? Or feeling up clothed on tit? I'm just curious about the difference in US/EU attitudes, and assumptions that people make about relationships as a result.