Youth Incorporated Magazine

‘Situationship’ is a modern term for the statement “More than friends, less than lovers”, also known as Friends with Benefits amongst the millennials.

In a situationship, you and your partner act as a couple, go for movie dates and dinner dates, in some cases, your second toothbrush would be at their place. While there are no tags attached to such a relationship, but in some cases, there’s maybe some kind of catch, depending on the parties involved.

A decade back, the term situationship would be defined as having long-term casual sex with someone; today millennials call it having a tag-free relationship, where fewer emotions are involved.

In such kind of relationship there is never a question of “what are we?” and there is a very clear narration of “you like me and I like you” with the additional benefits of sex and occasional dates.

Today more and more people treat situationship as a trial period – with mutual understanding, where they try to get to know more about the person they like. Millennials have dumped the socialising theory of “if you like someone, that person is supposed to be your girlfriend or boyfriend” rather they are taking over more mature outlook on the fact that “not every person you like needs to have a tag of boyfriend or girlfriend”.

Every human has a basic desire for sex and love, and millennials find ways to fulfill it in the nontraditional ways. It won’t be wrong to say that millennials are having fast sex and slow love. Yet, they are still waiting for someone special with whom they are more compatible and comfortable to have a love tag.

It may sound liberating to be in a situationship, but when we look at the broader spectrum it tends to become toxic when either of the partners starts developing feelings and are afraid to ask “Where is it going” due to the fear of losing their ‘good friend’. Instead, both individuals continue to have uncertain see-saw ride of their undefined relationship until one decides to put an end to it.

The older generation may find it little difficult to bounce back from a siuationship, but for the millennials who are a social bees, live in the fast-paced world and prioritise their work, coming out of situationship becomes easier when it ends.