Friends with Benefits - Why it never works

When I was young, I always believed sex "meant something", and it wasn't simply something that was taught to me -- it was instinctive.

When I grew up and entered the adult world, tons of people told me that sex was meaningless and I was just being on old-fashioned Priss. Being naive (and trusting the wrong people) I had a one night stand at the urging of so called friends.

I recall nervously telling the guy that it was my first time in that realm. He sneered at me and said "Most women say that so you won't think they're a slut..." At that moment I felt very cheapened. Later, the one girl who had coaxed me into the one night stand laughed and replied, "See, now you are no better than me, and you can't say anything to me!"

I cried.

I never had another one night stand again, and learned some valuable lessons. Despite how nonchalant people try to be about sex, it is far more complicated than many would have us believe. As I matured, I made other sexual missteps, but of a different nature. Because of this, I slowly realized a pattern of behavior. MOST people, MEN INCLUDED, do not really take sex lightly, they merely run from various implications of it.



Now, this may not be the case with all people who enjoy a liberated lifestyle, but I will say that the MAJORITY of men and women I found who engaged in wanton, free sex, be it with stranger or friend, were either afraid of commitment, or running from something.

Invariably, if I sat down to talk with these people (I have a way of making people feel comfortable enough to bare their souls) they spill on old ghosts, fears, childhoods, that hint at why they don't desire to have an adult, give and take, one on one sexual relationship.

There were always two main culprits, which is always at the heart of emotional issues.

Fear and anger:

  • Fear is borne from individuals who believe that they are damaged, and don't want to let anyone in enough to see flaws. As soon as someone gets too close, they run like scared rabbits.

  • Anger emerged from those who were hurt by a man or woman, or as a child, culminating in an immature, almost sociopathic rage that only served to perpetuate the cycle of pain that we inflict on one another - such a response solves nothing.

Immature individuals also feel they deserve to have what they want free of expectations or respect to the person they want to obtain it from. In this way, meaningless sex allows them to have the perks of a relationship, without having to deal with the needs of someone else.

People must realize that anything that has worth, kids, love, marriage, come with a price--nothing is free. You can't just walk into a store and walk out with diamond--you pay for it. Sex has its price as well, and we can't circumvent it.
Gogus olculeri

Did we not learn anything from the past? The free love sixties fell by the wayside with a thud. Why? Because Human beings are by and large, emotional and spiritual beings. We are not Vulcans who can push aside our natural responses with a "logical pact". Our emotional side is just as valid as the intellectual one.

We are biologically engineered to bond after sex. For example, a woman release a hormone called oxytocin when she orgasms during sex. This hormone is also released when she breastfeeds her baby, so that she bonds with it. Some studies indicate men also release a hormone that causes an attachment to the female partner. We are SUPPOSED to want to be with one another after a sexual experience -- it is the nature of the human creatures design.


As I told one poster, it ain't nice to fool with mother nature!

Want to know why FWB doesn't work--because sex does mean something--we know in our hearts this is true, no matter what we tell ourselves -- going against our hearts and spirits has always been the height of human folly, but also of man's learning and evolution.

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Most Helpful Girl

  • Im doing this now a guy met at school. Think it started when I had the conversation girls can't have rebounds they will get judged than he started asking me out takeing me places after class. and I threw in there we shoud be friends with benifits cause I thought of him better caliber than me he more educated and upper class than me so I know he would'nt want more than that and I'm thinking he prob thinks the same thing I'm older have kids and not as educated as him .don't know what got myself into

Most Helpful Guy

  • The science you are quoting has been refuted and comes from the people who back abstinence only education.

    In addition, you have no experience with a FWB situation and are simply making pronouncements. While you might believe what you are saying to be true, it doesn't reflect the research or my experience.

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What Girls & Guys Said

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  • My response to the start of your article was "You are quite the sensitive, knight-in-shining-armor act, aren't you?"

    But you did conclude with some sound, non-self-aggrandizing points about motivation and ramifications and biology so, hats off for the second half.

    Men bond after sex typically too, not just women. Why are we jealous, fighting each other over unfaithful girls, and consumed with imagery of her with the new guy after you split up? We respond to bonding differently, that's all.

  • This was a real treat for me to read. If FWB works for someone the good for them but I've yet to see it work because we are pulled eventually to one side or the other.

  • I agree with most of this except for the part about men feeling attached after sex.....I would say that women do feel or want to feel close after an orgasm but men.....I think they can easily have sex and not feel anything.....

  • If you happen to fall for someone that is at the "fear" stage... what do you do?

    And if you are in a FWB relationship, is there any way to tell whether or not it could develop into something more?

    I agree with you wholeheartedly, at least personally... Very well said :)

  • Friends with benefits can work, but only for a time, and with clear communication about the arrangement. After a while, I do get attached, so it doesn't really work for me if that's all the guy is ever going to want.

    But it's not a sin or a denial of your true self to want that or engage in it. Just be true to yourself and the other person if that's what you want it to be.

  • I love your writing style, and I agree with you on this entirely. I've also learned the hard way with a lot of things and it's wonderful that you've shared your experiences with others to help prevent it from happening to them. When you said you felt cheapened, I had a flashback to a bad memory and you're absolutely right. A lot of guys know exactly what to say to make us feel that way and it's awful. Anyways, I give you a million kudos for this article!!

  • I agree...it doesn't work....weather it be the male or female with the need to band after sex...one person almost always ends up getting hurt.

    I never even knew about the hormone thing.

    Well said! Cheers!

  • FWB works. No question. Same as with a menag a trio, there must be some things that are decided upon ahead of time. Call them what you want but these rules must be agreed to and if breaking them comes close or one crosses the line the relationship must be good enough to be able to discuss. Otherwise, yes it doesn't work. The ability and desire to satisfy your physical partner must also be unconditional. Trust is required to reach the erotic heights of pleasure you pursue.

  • Say WHAT?!? FWB are the simplest relationships to start, maintain and disengage. Without FWB, I would have commited suicide years ago! With divorce, men-bashing, internet dating frauds and lack of legal prostitution, what else are men to do? Sex flings are a good thing and always have been. Unfortunately, all it takes is one idiot man to ruin it for the rest of us GOOD guys whom women reject because we are not their type.

  • Amen! Kinda recently I had a friends-with-some-benefits but I realized that the only reason he was trying to be "friends" with me was for those "benefits" [and then later he denies it...] And it was my first time I've done ANYTHING [even kissing] with a guy and, after I confessed that, he got really scared that I could be "creepy-clingy." I told him that I wouldn't be like that [and I honestly thought I wouldn't] but a couple days later I did start to be like that. The rest is just a mess...

  • I think that this is really an awesome article and youve made some thorough points. For the most part I agree with you, but I can help but look at it from the opposite perspective. Whatever underlaying issues there may be in people who prefer NSA sex, I think thier main defense is that, for them, it works. So I agree that generally one nighters and FWB situations don't work for the average. However, we live in a diversified world where no one is alike.

  • I read that article, and nodded almost the entire time. Thank you for representing women who have tried (and failed) to behave like everyone else does. Thank goodness! So many of my friends say that it's "healthy" to have these kinds of relationships, and that it's all part of being in our 20's,but I want something more. Much more.Thank you for reminding me why,

  • I'm still a virgin, and the reality of the reason why I am is because... well, I never had the opportunity to lose it. I'm not unattractive... I model, so that should be the last reason I would think of. I think mostly its because I'm shy. I guess this insecurity and fear could have put me in great danger if my friends weren't as good as they are. I'm glad I'm older now, because I think now I am mature enough to see the reasons why it really is important to wait for someone special.

  • Very well writen, and very strong point of view.

    Additionally, there is a HUGE difference between "Friends with Benefits" and "Sex with a Friend".

    Sex with a friend can work. Just two good friends getting together to take care of a physical need each other has. Usually happens once in a blue moon, if that. MIght as well be masturbation with a second set of hands. Be careful not to get emotional or you'll be trapped in the FWB myth.

  • Good article. I agree, except that I believe that God made us to bond in sex. It is deeper because "the two will become one." It makes you and that other person part of eachother, quite literally but also emotionally. I can't describe how much it hurts (and I don't have to, because most of you know) to lose that person who shared their body and soul with you and vice versa. Even if they were cruel, hurtful, or used you, it hurts beyond words. :(

  • Awesome article, so true and so well written. Thanks.

  • I completely agree. You get em!

  • When people abuse their sexual relations with others, it is because they are not secure with themselves. So they allow others to take advantage of them, not really knowing what they are doing. I have a friend and she is one that thinks having sex with others she will gain friends. When in reality for her this is quite the opposite! She falls in "love" too fast! And of course is taken advantage of. every time!

  • Great article. You write so well, what a gift!

  • I kinda disagree. Friends with benefits means REAL friends who can relieve sexual needs with each other without asking for anything in return, it doesn't just mean casual sex buddies. Friends with benefits can be meaningful in a completely different way

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