Not a couple, not friends and not sex buddies: What is a ‘situationship’?

Written by Reynaldo — February 5, 2024
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A warning for romantics and fans of Disney love stories: this topic may cause anxiety, cold sweats and trembling, because what we are dealing with today are relationships of those who no longer believe in happy endings.

In 2005, when Facebook allowed users to disclose that their relationship status was “it’s complicated,” few imagined that such couples would not be an exception but become common place over time.

A warning for romantics and fans of Disney love stories: this topic may cause anxiety, cold sweats and trembling, because what we are dealing with today are relationships of those who no longer believe in happy endings.

Tinder’s 2022 Year in Swype report indicated that young singles were already talking about situationships — a casual bond that is agreed upon by both parties — as a valid relationship status. A year later the Oxford Dictionary re-emphasized that such relationships are more popular than ever, noting that the term was the second best at capturing the trends that defined 2023.

What is a ‘situationship’ and what is the foundation of it?

“The term combines the words relationship and situation…It is a relationship in which there is both something and nothing. There is sex, but not a relationship. We meet up, but it is not a date.

A situationship is a yes, but no,” explains Eva Gutiérrez, the author of Si es toxic no es amor [If It Is Toxic, It Is Not Love].

It is a relationship in which there is both something and nothing.

Those who dislike ambiguity will be disappointed because the expression is not very concise and lends itself to maybes and the subjunctive tense: “In this type of relationship there is no room for labels like couple or courtship, because there is no commitment. They are relationships based on immediacy, the same immediacy we experience in our society.”

Tinder recorded a 49% increase among members who added this new relationship intention to their profiles, and over one in 10 of the young singles surveyed said they preferred situationships as a less-pressure way to bond.

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