not HOOK UP

You have the right to…

“‘This guy won’t stop bothering me. I’ll have to block him,’ my friend says to me. ‘Why aren’t you on Tinder?’

“I’ve experienced that scenario a lot. A friend will open the dating app, scroll through a litany of people she’s passed over and then ask me why I’m not taking part. It feels like I’m constantly being forced to initiate into the world’s worst cult.

“All these apps send the message that people should be trying to have sex at all times. Online dating was once the home of loser-soaked desperation, but now there’s a stigma about resisting the urge to swipe right. There have been times when I’ve chosen not to have sex, period. I found it easier to figure out what made me feel good when I wasn’t worrying about a partner.

“Now, I’m not recommending that you cloister yourself in a convent and have your vagina hermetically sealed. But I want more women to know that being alone doesn’t mean you’re lonely. I’m not lonely. I have my friends and family. Oh, and a phone free of jocks from Bumble. I win.” – Danielle Henderson, writer