You must have heard of the term “friends with benefits” by now. We live in the 21st century… Surely we’re all aware of this by now?

The term friends with benefits is something that refers to two friends who are NOT dating, or are not romantically attached in any way, but have sex regularly, or every now and again. Friends… with benefits. The name kinda gives it away, don’t you think?

Mila Kunia and Justin Timberlake made a film about it. Two people, not emotionally involved, sleeping together when it suited them. Of course, in the film, Mila and Justin’s characters fall in love and probably have that happy-ever-after thing that so many girls lust after. It’s not always like this though. Sometimes the encounter just sort of fizzles out…

Take my friend Amalie. She’s a 20-something year old girl that doesn’t particularly want to settle down. She got married when she was 18 and was divorced by the time she was 24. She’d done the settling down thing, she wasn’t looking to start popping out kids at any point soon, and she really enjoyed travelling the world. She did travel the world, one boyfriend at a time, but she realised that every breakup tore her to little shreds.

Taking back all of her “girl power”, she decided to make a change. She didn’t want companionship because she had a male best friend that fulfilled the “boyfriend” role (although they never had sex), and a couple of really close girlfriends that she loved hanging out with as often as she could. She had a part time job and also freelance web-designed on the side, and to be honest, she never really had time for a relationship.

Instead of the relationship, she opted for causal sex with a guy that she had known for about ten years. They had never dated. They were never romantically attached. They were just two people that happened to have known each other for a really long time, and once day decided to have a few drinks and jump in bed together. The result was simply mind-boggling. She had the best sex of her life, climaxing more times than she ever thought possible, and he revelled in the happiness that a great night with a hot woman brings.

It was an explosive reunion, but one that neither of them wanted to recreate outside of the bedroom. To this day, they sleep together roughly once every 12-14 months (when they see each other) and although they rarely talk in between these times, they simply pick up where they left off every time. It’s quite cute to see them really. Cute and weird.

It works for them, and it works for so many other people too. Relationships don’t always fit in with our 21st century lifestyles and with jobs, travelling, going to music gigs, drinking in bars with friends, going pole dancing in a bid to keep fit, shopping for new shoes and trying to maintain a healthy family life, there really isn’t a lot of time left over for a man.

Does it really mean that the average hard working woman should give up sex as well as the relationship? Amalie didn’t think so and to be honest, we envy the way she lives her life. She has a couple of guys that she “circles” around every once in a while, plus the male best friend to do all the things that boyfriends are meant to do minus the sex, and she is the happiest we’ve ever seen her.

So I guess that’s what “friends with benefits” means…there are plenty of casual friendship web sites that cater to this type of niche dating as well! Check them out.