I

T

Hint: She’s more in

control now.

f you were old enough to

have a crush in 1997, do you

remember how important

ligaw was back then? Yeah,

we can barely remember

now either.

Thanks to the rise of the

internet, there’s been a

faster spread of information

from more liberal countries

to our corner of the world—

including feminist ideas that

have gotten Pinays to

challenge gender stereo-

types both in life and love.

Here are significant ways

dating has changed for the

Pinay since 1997, when Cosmo

first launched on these shores.

What a time to be alive.

SHE MIGHT MEET THE LOVE

OF HER LIFE ONLINE.

Twenty years ago, if a friend

had told you she’d met her

new boyfriend in a

chatroom, you would have

gaped at her and said, “What

if he’s a serial killer?!”

Nowadays, if a friend tells

you she found her bae on

Facebook, you wouldn’t even

bat an eyelash. Instead, you’d

squeal, “Patingin ng pic!”

Dawna, 32, met her

husband when they both

commented on a mutual

friend’s FB page. Since he

was based in Canada, the

platform that brought them

together bridged the many

miles between them, too.

Annie*, 32, who met her

fiancé on Tinder in Ireland,

is grateful that dating apps

give people the chance to

meet matches they probably

would have never met IRL. In

other words, yes, there’s true

love on Tinder!

THE PINay

IN L VE

IN 2017

SHE’S MORE CaSUaL

aBOUT DaTING.

A modern Pinay doesn’t just

wait for one guy to sweep her

off her feet and let him hang

around in ligaw-zone for five

months before giving him

her matamis na oo. She

might have a little fun while

searching, and speed up

the process if she’s clearly

into him.

Karla, 27, makes no secret

of the fact that she sleeps

around. “When things start

out casually, it’s better for

me since it’s low-

commitment,” she says.

“I get to make a conscious

choice about whether I want

to ‘upgrade’ the

arrangement to a more

intimate one.”

For today’s girls who do

find their happily-ever-

after, when their hearts are

in it, they go all out. Nix, 24,

was college classmates with

her now-husband when they

joked around during class

and exchanged numbers that

same day. Eleven days later,

they were officially a couple.

94 Cosmopolitan • MAY 2017 WWW.COSMO.PH