There’s A New Trend In One-Night Stands (And You’re Probably Doing It)

Nicole, 32, doesn’t have one-night stands. She has half-night stands. After sex, she heads back home and wakes up in her own bed. 

Her hookup buddy doesn’t mind, because he, too, prefers half-night stands. 

“We enjoy our time together but when it’s over, it’s over,” Nicole, who works as a writer and project manager in Dallas, Texas, told The Huffington Post. “We both have demanding careers and insanely early mornings. Starting the day in my own bed ? where I can race to my computer at 6 a.m., if necessary ? is just easier for everyone involved.” 

Half-night stands are becoming more and more common. They’re essentially an abbreviated version of the one-night stand ? instead of staying the night, one person makes their exit after sex.

“If you don’t want anything more than sex, what’s the point of staying overnight with a stranger?” Bay Area sex therapist Celeste Hirschman told HuffPost. “It’s just easier to go home so you can sleep in your own comfortable bed, wake up, and start your day fresh.” 

According to Tammy Nelson, a psychologist and author of The New Monogamy, the half-night stand trend suggests women are simply asserting more sexual agency.

“Women call the shots now,” she told HuffPost. “They choose to go to bed with a man or choose to leave after the sex and go home to their own place. And if they choose to stay, they make that choice. It really is a new time of sexual freedom for women.”