[valkyrie]

Okay, I'm thinking more about this...and here are my random, rambling thoughts --

I think that women are somewhat conditioned by society to believe that relationships are the most important thing in life. So we often spend a lot of time looking for relationships and feeling miserable without them, or when they are not going well, because we learn that they are so important and so necessary, and that they really define us as people. I think that this is too bad, because, especially when you're young, like in college, time is better spent figuring out who you are, learning, growing, becoming independent, etc.

Now that I'm a little older, of course, it's easy for me to say this... But really, when you are young, you should be out having fun and not taking things to seriously, IMHO. There is plenty of time for serious relationships when you get older. Of course, now that I'm older and have been in serious relationships, I guess I still don't understand what all the fuss is about, because really, freedom and independence are wonderful things...

As a side note, I've really been noticing how serious almost everyone here is about relationships. There is a lot of talk about them, and people don't seem to think highly of those who have sex while not in serious relationships. I wonder where this "ultra morality" as I will call it comes from -- it certainly wasn't around when I was in college. It's kind of like guys don't necessarily want serious relationships, but yet they judge women who are willing to have sex while not in a relationship, and I'm not even going to get into how judgmental women can be about other women's sexual exploits... I guess if I were in college right now, I would be very confused as to what the expectations and "rules" are.