‘At Least You’re Young Enough to Start Again’: What Not to Say to a Friend Getting Divorced at Thirty
‘Finding the Right Person is About Discounting the Wrong People First’: Ten Red Flags that Mean It’s Time to Ditch Your Date
Anyone who’s old enough to remember the unrealistic yet somehow aspirational rom-com How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days is most likely old enough to have as dire a dating life as me. If you’re craving that ‘90s whirlwind romance, then you’re reading the right article. Not because I have some magical instructions on how to manifest movie-like love, but because I have a myriad of failed romances that you can learn from…
Sinking the Situationship: Say Goodbye to Drama and Emotionally Draining Dating
With the casual nature of situationships, you’re never owed loyalty from the person you’re in it with. So, while you have those comforting nights together, you also have a lot of nights when you’re cancelled on, not replied to or ditched. The comfort against loneliness can be taken away just as easily as it’s given, and there’s not much you can do about it…
‘I Don’t Know How to Flirt in My Mother Tongue’: What is the Love Language of an Expat?
I truly learned how to have sex in English, if sex is a learned thing. I read its dictionary in people's beds after I moved to London. My first long-term relationship was with a Brit, and the following one as well. The things I asked for, what they asked of me… I only knew one language to say those words in…
Queerly Beloved: A HER Success Story
Outwardly I am very straight passing, which though not an obstacle per se made it harder to signal my interest in spaces that weren’t queer. One time, at a friend’s house party, I got chatting to this beautiful girl. We laughed and flirted the whole night and exchanged numbers to meet up for a drink later that week. Over espresso martinis in a chic, low-light bar, she leaned toward me and said how happy she was to make a new friend. It's a queer girl rite of passage...
How to Embrace the Freedom and Flexibility of Independence Whilst You’re Single
I’ve been single for the majority of my adult life. Most of the time I adore my independence; it has allowed me to work abroad, build amazing friendships and have the freedom to do what I like, when I like. But being single isn’t always easy. Here is my advice on how to be single when you’re feeling pretty shit…
Sick of Dating Apps? Try Giving Out Business Cards Instead: An Experiment in Love
I have always found it very difficult to approach people and it has been my goal to get better, especially since I don’t drink much alcohol anymore (the classic inhibition remover). Inspired by a friend, I decided to make some business cards to give out to people I fancied…
‘Bisexuality is About Attraction, Not Action’: Embracing Authenticity and Coming Out as a Bisexual Woman Marrying a Straight Man
In a world that often tries to confine individuals within predetermined boxes, the path to self-discovery and acceptance can be an emotionally charged journey. For bisexuals, embracing their true selves while in a relationship that doesn't align with societal expectations can be particularly challenging…
‘Single Friend Who Gives Great Advice? That’s Me’: Dating as a Late Bloomer and Why it’s OK to Take Your Time
I’ve always found myself enamoured by the idea of love and romance – the effect of someone who binged too many romantic comedies and read even more books. After a while, there reached a point where the love I would read and watch on screen seemed to be a distant fantasy for myself. Since dating never came naturally to me, I came to believe that I might not ever get it, or at least not in the way I truly wanted…
‘We Were Never Going to be a Normal Couple’: Dating a Former Client as a Sex Worker
Now, I might be old school, but back in my day we had three basic rules in the industry: no kissing on the mouth, never share your real name with a client and never date a client outside of work. I broke all three…
It’s Okay to be a Dating ‘Vicktim’: Red Flags, The Ick and Why You Should Listen to Your Instincts
They sneezed weird. They dropped their wallet. They stumbled. They ordered a German lager and mispronounced it. They got stung by a bee. They sent you a text saying, ‘I am hear’. Their stomach rumbled. They did that silly little run as they crossed the road (just let the car hit you, coward!). In short, this person revealed to you something that is best kept secret during the earliest, most fragile phase of a relationship: they are human...
What I’ve Learned Dating Multiple Genders
It took me an entire lockdown to finally accept that I was not 100% straight. I put this revelation down to too much time alone with my thoughts. Lockdown crawled by. Eventually, I went back to university. In other words, to a big, anonymous city with thousands of young, cabin-fevered people within easy swiping access. I took the plunge and set my dating preferences to ‘everyone’…
‘I Don’t Care that I’ve Always Been Single’: Why I’m Twenty-Five and Have Never Been in a Relationship
I don’t really care that I’ve always been single. I’m used to it. It’s my normal. My attitude is, ‘it might be nice to find my person, but I’m an introvert who is socially awkward, not the biggest fan of people and has a chronic fear of intimacy. So, logically, it kind of makes sense’. What does make me feel abnormal is the way other people view me when they find out this information…