Beyond Romantic Consumerism
In the past 15 to 20 years, a profound change has taken place in the way we think about and find romantic love. The internet has completely transformed the landscape from the one that I, a Generation-Xer, encountered when I started dating as a young adult. In the early ’90s, for example, sexual exclusivity was typically assumed, even in the early stages of dating, unless one explicitly agreed otherwise.
Today the default assumption between new lovers is the opposite. One does not assume exclusivity until it is mutually agreed upon. At the same time, new distinctions have been created between “levels” of relationship that
