FWB is, in theory, very straight-forward: You are emotionally platonic friends, but physically, you are sexual.
Let's get down to business. Here is what you need to know about FWB:
Where to find a friend with benefits?
Start with online dating sites. Here is the list of the best dating sites for single moms and dads.
AdultFriendFinder.com is the top hookup site for those looking for casual relationships. Educate yourself about safe online dating.
Of course, you might meet men at work, through friends, in your neighborhood, or on the subway (happened to me — super-hot Eastern European guy chatted me up on the downtown N where we started kissing and wound up dry humping against a pillar at the Harold Square station —in the middle of a weekday.)
Single dads can be a great addition to your schedule.
At this stage of life I have been surprised to have several experiences with younger men — extremely attractive (no question objectively better looking than me), successful, charming guys who were surprisingly way, way into me. This post explains why older women date younger men.
Dating a cougar? 9 things you should know
What do friends with benefits do together?
So, you can hang out, drink, travel, go to dinner, watch sports, shop, go to theater — and have sex.
You are not allowed to fall in love.
(Good luck with that.)
How long does friends with benefits usually last?
FWB can last a lifetime, for one evening, or anywhere in between. The latter scenario may be unhealthy, keeping you both stuck in a relationship of purgatory and preventing one or both of you from moving on to a committed romantic relationship with someone else.
If you are hoping that a casual lover will become more, or worry that your buddy will take off, maybe you are catching the feels. TOTALLY NORMAL AND HEALTHY! Just check yourself, communicate your needs, and respect the relationship for what it is.
Is FWB a good idea?
Friends with benefits can be very excellent, meeting both partner's needs. But it can quickly become messy. After all, humans with emotions are involved.
Mature adults who are respectful to one another may be able to successfully navigate any feelings of romance, jealousy, or commitment — which may or may not be mutual.
Ready for a serious relationship? eharmony is our No. 1 recommendation for dating apps for committment. Read our eharmony review.
Friends with benefits? 8 rules to follow
To keep weirdness and heartbreak at bay, enjoy all the pros of such an arrangement, play by these friends-with-benefits rules:
1. Understand what a lover is.
A friend with benefits, or a lover, by definition, is not your boyfriend or a possible husband. He is a lover. Your arrangement is between the two of you, for mutual enjoyment — whether physical, intellectual, emotional or all of the above. It is not a public relationship. Read this to learn how to find a boyfriend or husband.
2. Your kids, friends and family do not meet your FWB.
He is not a social media connection or mention. See above.
3. No sneaking men into the house when your kids are asleep.
Your kids are not morons. They hear weird noises in the night, sense a change in their home, feel your little and big lies. That teaches children to distrust their own instincts and feel unsafe in their own home.
When to introduce your boyfriend to your kids
4. A friend-with-benefits is not your support system.
Don't call him when your refrigerator breaks or you have a bad day at work. That is a boyfriend. That is not this guy.
5. Relationship rules do not apply to a FWB.
Texting the next day and remembering birthdays are not the domain of an affair. Nor is monogamy. You are not entitled to get pissy if these things do not transpire.
6. Have fun.
This is supposed to be a delightful arrangement. When it becomes abusive or otherwise tormented, get out.
7. Accept your friends with benefits relationship for what it is.
A lover is not someone you are trying to manipulate into a serious relationship. You mutually chose this arrangement because of any number of reasons: you have sexual chemistry but do not fit into one another's lives. Or,. you need one another's companionship but are both otherwise not interested in a serious commitment.
Read our Tinder review — just for hooking up?
8. Just hooking up? Leave the door open to more.
This is something that you do within yourself (i.e. do not discuss it with him). But reasons to have a friend with benefits is that you do not have the emotional bandwidth to devote to another person, you are terrified of commitment, or one of you is otherwise entangled in another romantic situation. But people change. Life changes. Time and place have a way of doing a number on us. Be open to the possibility that you and this man could be more.
Because, yes: Guys who are friends with benefits develop feelings. Women, too.
Also: A friends-with-benefits relationship can last forever, beautiful in its entirety, exactly as-is.
How to ask a guy to be friends with benefits
First, sleep with him. Make sure that you will get your needs met (because otherwise what's the point). Get a sense of whether it is satisfying for him, too.
Also, do you get the sense he wants more — a commitment, exclusivity, a full-life relationship? Any other needs that you cannot meet? Think twice about whether this guy is the right casual partner.
Then, be really honest. Some scripts:
“The sex is so hot. I want more! But can we have an honest conversation? I'm not interested in a boyfriend situation. This will have to be casual, and open. Would that work for you?”
How to end a friends with benefits situation
Again, be honest. Be kind, but direct. Just because there was no explicit commitment doesn't mean you are allowed to ghost him. Say:
“This has been so lovely, but I am ready for a serious relationship, so I'm pursuing that with someone else / this has come to an end for me / the connection isn't romantic for me any more.”
How to run a background check on your date
FWB dating FAQs
Here's what else you might be wondering about FWB.
Do friends with benefits work?
Friends with benefits are just like any human relationship: It is can be beautiful and perfect until it's not. The key is to set boundaries, communicate, and be realistic.
What does friends with benefits mean to a guy?
PSA: Both men and women have physical, sexual, romantic, intellectual, emotional and social needs. Men have been socialized to be more open to casual sexual relationships, but also fall in love, appreciate connection, commitment, monogamy and devotion — just like women.
Friends with benefits can be elegant and beautiful, or messy and dramatic, just like a long-term, monogamous marriage. In other words: If you want a simple formula for a romantic or sexual relationship, good luck!
How do you tell if your friend with benefits wants more?
I thought this passage in the short-story “Visitor” by Bryan Washington, was a very sweet yet direct way to address a want for a more serious relationship with his lover:
Later that night, at his place, Joel asked me what we were doing.
We stood barefoot in his kitchen, hunched over his counter, kneading dough. Immediately after fucking, I’d mentioned, offhand, that something sweet wouldn’t be a bad idea, and Joel had gone over to the pantry. Now he patted and stirred while I massaged. We dropped globs of sugary dough into the fryer beside us.
Cooking, I said.
I think, Joel said, that we’re doing more than that. And I think that you know it. And I think that we should talk about that.
We’re talking now, I said.
When Joel went silent, I looked up. The sizzling beside us was all I could hear.
I feel pretty good about you, he said, sighing. All things considered.
Noted, I said.
And I’d like to know if you feel the same. It would mean a lot to me to know that.
But what if I don’t feel what you feel, I asked.
Then nothing changes, Joel said. Except that I’d know.
O.K., I said, and what if I do?
Then I don’t know, Joel said. But you have to say it. I can’t know unless you tell me.
Neither of us said anything to that, until we noticed that the batter was smoking. We lifted three sweet pancakes from the pan to a bowl, and Joel immediately tossed one into his mouth—but not before tearing off a piece for me.
It burned me. It was delicious. We both reached for another.
Why dating as a single mom is better and why sex is so amazing as a single mom
Can friends with benefits fall in love?
100%, every day. Happened to me a few times. Xoxo
Updated. Originally published September 22, 2014.
Start with online dating sites and local hookup apps.
So, you can hang out, drink, travel, go to dinner, watch sports, shop, go to theater, and have sex.
FWB can last a lifetime, for one evening, or anywhere in between.
Friends with benefits can be very excellent, meeting both partner's needs. But it can quickly become messy. After all, humans with emotions are involved.
Friends with benefits are just like any human relationship: It is can be beautiful and perfect until it's not. The key is to set boundaries, communicate, and be realistic.
