I Never Dated Before 26. Here’s Why

Not finding love in your twenties is not a life sentence.

Recently, I received a request to talk about being single in your twenties. The message read, “[Please write about] coping with having never been in a relationship in your early 20s, what you should do, is there no hope?” I thought I could be an excellent resource on this because… I didn’t date at all until my late twenties.

And when I say I didn’t date, I mean I didn’t do anything until I was twenty-six. I had no idea what a relationship was like; I’d never slept with someone before, never gone on a date, never held hands with anyone, nothing.

I was raised in a non-religious household where dating was not an option and was actively discouraged. From a young age, I was told girls who date would abandon their families and neglect their parents, fail their exams, become pregnant, have no future or career and lose the chance of any possibility of success. Additionally, from the age of six upwards, I was told horror stories about statistics about intimate partner violence and stories about how dangerous men were, which not only demonised all men but terrified me from even talking to them.

Many people from strict households tend to get the opportunity to explore dating when they leave home, either for work or higher education, but sadly, my eating…