Sex Object

For the most part, I have always dated with a single purpose, "the possibility of a long-term relationship (LTR) with another person." Not necessarily marriage, but with the intention to create a friendship that last for more than a couple of week or months. The exception to this would be a brief fling after my last long relationship drought.

Fast forward to the present. After about another 2-yr relationship break, I have feel the need for companionship which could or could not include sexual relations. While optimally, I would love to meet someone with true Long-Term potential, I have decided to also be open to a little summer fling. Just a quick dalliance to fulfill this longing for closeness to another human being as I continue to ready myself for Mr. Fantastic! With this in mind I decided I would be willing to overlook some known deal-breakers in exchange for a brief affair.

With my priorities shifted, instead of looking for someone with similar long-term goals, and intellectual/spiritual compatibility, I decided to find a cutie-pie whose personality is not too bad to hang-out with and kick it with for a while (read: until those known deal-breakers start to grate on my nerves so much I need him to go away forever!). I felt okay with this b/c from what I have seen most men are not really interested in relationships and would appreciate my new perspective. Then, I had a convo with my sister about a mutual acquaintance who is without a car right now so he is dating women for the sole purpose of using their cars to get around. That got me to thinking about dating for motives other than love, friendship and companionship such as: sex, money, financial security, free meals, status, etc.. I really felt it was unethical for him to raise these women's expectations up knowing full well that if had his own car he would never even go out with them at all.

So this morning as I showered and contemplated calling one of my "fling potentials" it hit me that perhaps I was being unethical too! If I am reasonably sure that the guy I am going to hang out with will never become more than a funny story to share after I move on, is it wrong to start anything in the first place. I try to live by the golden rule of "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," and I wouldn't want anyone to agree to see me under that premise.

So I ask the question" When dating, do we need to be upfront about what our intentions are?"