When I was dating so many decades ago after divorcing my first wife, I always felt that "sex" complicated things. Rarely, did both people enter into sex with the same expectations.

As a result, there were some women who I dated numerous times, that I simply chose not to have sex with even though I enjoyed dating them and being with them.

Women I enjoyed having dinner with or going to a movie, cultural event, or on a hike with, etc. The interesting thing is that most of those women remain friends to this day even if I have not seen them in decades. In contrast, I have virtually no contact with women I slept with...

Even when it was clear that this "friend" was willing to engage in a "friend with benefits" relationship, I declined.

I felt lucky these "friends/dates" were available since living alone can be lonely and cause you to pursue relationships that you should walk away from. If you have enough of these "friends", then you can lean on each other in between "serious relationships" and keep each other company when otherwise loneliness could cause you to do something stupid.

Eventually, the right person for me came along. We have been happily married for almost 30 years.

I guess what I am saying is not all men are programmed to have sex for any reason. And not all dating is designed to eventually end in sex. You can really enjoy and treasure a relationship with someone of the opposite sex (assuming you are heterosexual) without it having to get complicated with sex, if both parties want the same thing.

On the other hand, if a woman wants sex and the guy does not, she should realize that he either does not believe in sex outside of marriage or does not want the relationship to move beyond where it is, at least at the present time. The opposite is also true. If someone can't accept that and respect that, it is time for both people to call it quits rather than progress to sex.