Terms of Endearment

Research across psychology and sociology journals, and studies by dating apps convene on one area women are zeroing in on: prioritising themselves. The springboard for the 10 aspects of relationships and sex that women care about in 2025 now is the same core idea—cutting the fat, valuing their time, and putting their needs front and centre.

Long-Term Partnerships

A 2024 Tinder study that surveyed 8,000 heterosexual men and women across various countries found that 68 per cent of wom­en wanted romantic relationships over casual encounters. This partly comes from single women valuing their time more than they’ve allowed themselves to in the past, and holding people who waste it to a higher standard. “I dated casually for many years while I was getting my MD,” says Farah T, 31. “Now, I’m ready for something real. I have time to give, and I no longer want to waste my energy on anything without potential.

As a result, even the ‘situationship’ has seen a decline, with women pushing back against the ambiguity of it more, and sim­ply refusing to engage with it. The year 2025 will be for women calling out ‘ghosting’, ‘breadcrumbing’ and other problematic trends that play games in relationships.

Rejection of Traditional Milestones

Despite wanting a solid, dependable partnership over flings, Bumble’s recent ‘State of the Nation Report’ found that a lot of women are leaning away from the traditional relation­ship path of marriage and children. About a third of the 2,509 women Bumble surveyed didn’t prioritise hitting traditional milestones. Only 23 per cent were there to get married, while 72 per cent were hoping to find a long-term relationship. “I want a partner I can lean on, that I can share life with. I have no interest in kids, and marriage is inconsequential to me,” says Anuradha J, 36. The survey also found that 16 per cent of women surveyed even went out of their way to avoid friends or family that pushed them down that traditional path—fig­ures that are only likely to rise. “I actually stopped talking to my aunt for a while because she was so pushy about me hav­ing kids,” Anuradha adds.

Emotionally Stable Partners

Out with the gallant white knight, in with the level-headed guy in therapy. Women in 2025 are not chasing an archaic ideal of the ‘protector-provider’ man who is given a free pass for toxicity if he brings home the bacon. Instead, a 2024 Bumble survey asserts that they are increasingly prioritising emotionally stable and dependable partners. Bumble’s data suggests that a majority (59 per cent) of women respondents are looking for a partner who brings emotional stability to their relationship, a person who is emotionally intelligent, dependable, with a clear idea of what they want about life. “I’m now dating for a serious relationship, which means I don’t have time for men who are still playing the field—and playing games,” says Nisha G, 32. “I now touch on the ‘big’ things pretty quickly—kids, marriage etc. I’d rather scare someone away than waste my time.” It’s a practice that has been named ‘future-proofing’, with 27 per cent of women pushing key topics to be discussed earlier on.

More Sexual Exploration

It’s the era of trying new things and exploring your sexuality, and 2025 sees more women than ever enjoying a fluidity of sexual preference. Research that came out in The Journal of Sexual Medi­cine in January 2025 delved deeper into non-heterosexuality and attraction to women, working with a global sample of women. What it found was that while 19.6 per cent of the women sur­veyed explicitly identified as non-heterosexual, as many as 67.8 per cent expressed an attraction to women.

Alia V, 26, has been exploring the idea a little more recently. “I’ve always been bi-curious, but I’ve only dated men,” she shares, adding that she hopes to change that. “I want to actually date women in a real way. I’m lucky—my parents and friends are supportive people, so I think I’ll have the space to do it. I’ve already changed my preferences on the apps. Not sure where it’ll lead me, but I’m excited to find out!”

Diverse Sexual Fantasies

With greater exploration comes the unlocking of greater fantasies, chief among which for many women—as found by a collaborative study by the Kinsey Institute and dating platform Feeld called the ‘State of Dating Report’—was a threesome. This study surveyed 3,310 individuals, arriving at the conclusion that almost 87 per cent of women had a threesome fantasy. The study also found that, among Millennials and Gen X, 75-80 per cent fantasise about an open relationship, with 31-32 per cent saying they fantasise about it often.

In the context of discovering new kinks on dating apps, Gen Z led the charge with 55 per cent, followed by millennials at 49 per cent and Gen X at 39 per cent. “I’m in a phase of my life where I’m open to things,” says Meena A, 37, who just got out of a nine-year monogamous relationship. “I’m discovering a lot more about what I like as I date. I’ve never really explored BDSM before, but it interests me. I would try it if it was the right person now, for sure.”

Video Calls Before Dates

Too many instances of being burnt by someone with toxic vibes—or catfished by somebody who used misleading pho­tos—have taught women to test the waters before they step in. In its research, OkCupid found in their internal data that the number of women that would prefer to FaceTime before meet­ing up in person had risen from 19 per cent in 2017, to 23 per cent and rising as of 2023-24. “It helps me get a quick sense of the person. Do they seem aggressive? Do they have kind eyes? I understand better whether I actually want to put in the effort to go on a first date, or not,” says Harini C, 29.

Travel Romances

According to the 2024 Virtuoso Luxe Report, 71 per cent of glob­al solo travellers are now women—and the uptick in dating apps like Bumble and Hinge’s Travel Modes points out that many of those women consider a ‘destination romance’ a cov­etable experience. This comes as an amalgam of single women reportedly having healthier sex lives than single men (accord­ing to ‘Gender Differences in Singles’ Well-Being’, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science), and a rise in female sexual agency. Women enjoy the idea of a travel romance, both from a no-strings-attached PoV, or with the probability of it developing into something more serious (particularly for single women who are location-independent). That proved the case for Aditi K, 34. “I was on holiday in Bali when I met my boyfriend. He’s French, and we’re long distance at the mo­ment—but it’s going pretty well!”

Going Younger

Age gaps have always been much more of an issue for women in relationships… if their partner is younger than them. The normalisation of older men dating younger women, even with problematic age disparities, might be old hat, but the tables are finally turning. Women are more amenable to age differences in relationships and dating younger men.

“I’ve been dating my boyfriend for a year now,” says Zeenat B, 42, whose partner is 36. “I used to mostly date men my age, or older, but this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Common Values

‘Opposites attract’ seems to be aging out as a philosophy, treated more like a romantic ideal than a practical one for this generation of self-aware women, surer than ever of what they want. “I almost invariably look at shared interests when I’m swiping,” says Diya P, 23. “I need to have things in com­mon—especially the big stuff like politics or personality traits. I have no interest in ending up with a right winger who wants to party every weekend. Or a dog person,” she laughs, firmly asserting her allegiance to cats. Bumble’s 2024 ‘Dating Trends’ report highlights exactly this, with 25 per cent of singles talking about how agreeing on current events ups the attraction, and 33 per cent are turned off by dates who aren’t even aware of them. Shared experiences, viewpoints and interests also factor in.

Stronger Social Networks

“What if we were each other’s soulmates?” It was a line that rang through the decades when Charlotte York, a character in Sex and the City, said it to her three best friends in 2001 in New York. It was a revolutionary idea—that romantic partners could be an afterthought because the wellspring of support for women was… other women. The ‘Gender Differences in Singles’ Well-Being’, published by University of Toronto psychologists Elaine Hoan and Geoff MacDonald, looked at data from about 6,000 single people—and found that single women tended to skew happier than single men.

While part of the reason for this was women gaining more financial independence, a big factor was them having strong social support networks outside of just their partner. “I am polyamorous, divorced, and I now mostly date casu­ally,” says Snieha M, 42. “I enjoy my time with my partners, but my emergency contacts are all old friends. Three of my platonic friends from college and I even have plans to buy a house together and settle down one day. I personally see those relationships lasting far longer than my romantic ones.”

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