The year is 2022. Cars are practically driving themselves and robots can do art – can you believe we’re still making up rules about when grown people can or should have sex with each other?

Sadly, for many that’s the case, and women are still abiding by the “3-date rule” before they have sex so they don’t seem like a floozy. Via HuffPo:

“The three-date rule is one of those things that people love to quote but nobody can ever cite,” he told HuffPost, adding that it is “steeped in traditional social convention” and maintains “heterosexist gender role expectations around dating.”

For straight women, the guideline is intended to make sure she doesn’t appear too “easy” so she can uphold the “‘good-girl-protecting-her-virtue’ stereotype,” Siegel said.

“It’s based on the old trope that men won’t respect a woman who is too willing to have sex on the first date,” he said.

But, is the 3-date rule in any way legit?

All of our experts agreed there is no rule of thumb in regards to a set amount of dates or time to delay sex. The most important element is if both partners are “comfortable and excited about the prospect” of sex, Siegel said.

For Battle, the right time is “completely subjective” and differs based on the people involved and their values.

“In my case, having sex on the first date was the beginning of my current, almost five-year-long partnership,” she said. “That was what felt right to us. But I’ve worked with people who chose to wait a few weeks, months and even until after marriage.”

It seems like in the case of the 3-date rule, rules are meant to be broken.