College is all about figuring out what you like in a person and, more importantly, what you don’t like. To determine your likes, it often takes a lot of dating and it all starts with the almighty first date. I’ve never been a fan of going out on dates. They’re awkward, stereotypical and full of worries. Call me cynical but I’d rather “hangout” as friends until calling it more, than formally going on a date.

Either way, there are always a few things you shouldn't do on the first date. Maybe you can save them for the second, or for never. Your call.

After going on what some may call “disaster dates,” I’ve come up with a list of things to avoid. I can’t promise you’ll always get a second date, but I can promise a pretty good first one!

 

Ladies, please do not… More Here...

TheStar.com recently released an article that suggested that teens not only need to learn about the pitfalls of sexual activity, but that they should also learn about pleasure and how to please their partners.

Ann Douglas, the author, offers an interesting viewpoint. She suggests that educators should teach teens to know the differences between pleasureful sounds and pain so as to know whether or not your partner is "enthusiastically consenting" to sex. She also suggests that using porn in the classroom to could be benefitial to sex education so as to manage expectations that teenagers have about sex.

I think that Douglas has made an important contribution to the discussion about sex education. I think that teaching teenagers to know what pleasure looks and sounds like is wildly important so as to discourage disappointing sex acts in early adult life. I also think that showing porn in the classroom is an interesting and progressive idea, which could lead to an open discussion about the expectations of sex.

Readers: What do you think?

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If you'll please pardon me for a minute while I get on my high horse, as the "who pays for the date" debate has been brought back into the circle alongside its relation to feminism, I can't help needing to express my opinion on both ordeals (especially since I feel like I started this mess). 

A fellow reader made a comment on the recent post that most women hate feminism. Any woman who says she hates feminism either doesn't know what the word means or is an alien. Without getting too much into a history lesson here, there are three waves of feminism. 

The first being in the early 1900s where we earned our right to vote. The second being in the 60s and 70s where we exerted our equal rights in the workforce and pushed to dissolve the gender roles granted to us by society at the time (housewife, stay at home mom, dependent on husband/man, limited career options, etc.) The third being a current wave giving us the beautiful option to choose whether or not we want to be homemakers (and proud of it) or own a business... or both!

The last two waves, I think, are still overlapping today. More Here...

This post has been submitted anonymously by a Datingish reader. 

My boyfriend thinks I cry too much and am too sensitive.  I asked a couple of my girlfriends how much crying is normal for a girl, but one couldn't answer because she suffers from depression and cries like 3 or more times a week, and the other said once a month is more than normal (because of PMS).  In fact, she thinks every other week is normal, too.

What's a normal amount of crying for a girl? How often do you cry?

I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend.  I enjoy it; I think it's a normal and good thing.  However, she also wants me to spend a lot of time with her friends.  This makes me uneasy in a lot of ways.  The first couple ways are the simplest.  For one, I'm really bad at and awkward about meeting new people, especially in large groups.  Having to subject myself to hours of small talk with random strangers in no way appeals to me. 

And second, I've always hated it when I'm hanging out with my friends and somebody brings their girlfriend along.  She and her friends don't seem to share this sentiment; there are lots of couples in their group, but it still seems weird to me. 

Besides those two main reasons, there are a handful of other reasons I don't want to spend a lot of time with her and all of her friends.  I simply don't particularly like most of them from my limited time with them. More Here...

I was having a conversation with a close friend of mine the other day and I was surprised to hear that she does not worry about sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, she barely gives them a thought. While she practices safe sex, such as using condoms and using the Pill, she says that she uses these things exclusively to avoid pregnancy, which is "the ultimate STD". More Here...