A dissection of dating: Part I

What is 'dating'?
That's the first question, and a really hard one if you think about it. Let's start with what we know.

• It involves a guy and a girl
• The guy and the girl do things together

That's not very descript in itself. I mean..."just friends" do that, and they're not "dating". So, what distinguishes dating from a normal friendship?

1. The exclusivity of the relationship

If you're dating, you're an exclusive couple, and this is (generally) public knowledge. Your friends and the people you encounter in society in general don't expect to be placed on the same level as the person you're dating (the "datee" if you will, hehe).

While this is a hallmark of a dating couple, it doesn't really distinguish between a dating couple and a guy and girl who are just very good friends, because there are some very good friendships which are pretty damn exclusive.

This brings us to distinguishing point 2...

2. The intent behind the relationship

In a dating relationship, the "dator" and the "datee" have a different intent in participating in the relationship- a romantic intent, which theoretically is wholly absent from the very good friends relationship.

Hence, according to the brief foregoing discussion, dating may be defined as:

"a guy and a girl participating in an exclusive relationship with romantic intent"

(why does it sound so sterile when you put it that way!?)