Exclusive vs. Relationship?

[Anonymous]

A guy I've been hooking up with (almost every night for a month) asked me to be exclusive. I was hesitant, we wound up talking about the difference between being in a relationship and exclusively hooking up. Personally, I don't see a difference other than labels, but he said that exclusively hooking up means you can just cut things off or become non-exclusive just by saying so whenever you want, no conversation necessary. I don't think I like that. What do you think the difference is? Any opinions on this situation?

[lilmiss_smartypants]

I never heard of exclusively hooking up. I had a long discussion with a guy I was dating(but we don't do sexual things). I wanted to be exclusive and he wanted to continue dating others. I would only be comfortable doing sexual things if we were in a serious relationship.

I thought hooking up is a FWB situation. There is no courtship or serious relationship. Hookups/FWB can lead to STI/STDS by the way. At least in an exclusive relationship you don't have to worry about these sort of things because you know the guy actually cares for you and is only with you.

[selfishstars]

Yes, there's a difference. Being exclusive means making an agreement that you'll only date and/or sleep with each other.

But that doesn't mean that you're serious about each other in the sense that you want a romantic relationship. For example, you could be friends with benefits, but decide to be exclusive because you don't feel comfortable with each other sleeping with other people.

[ShootingStar5]

Relationship = You want to be with this person and you care about them on more than just a sexual level. You're not looking to date anybody else.

Exclusive(ly hooking up) = You want to have sex with this one person until you find someone you want to be in a relationship with. Basically, exclusive f*** buddies.

[LuvBiddy]

I agree with what he said, but I think that in either situation you should be polite and let the other person know that you want to end things. If you're looking for something real, look elsewhere.