There's a lot to be said for being single. It provides an enormous amount of personal liberty and you are accountable to no one, except yourself, and maybe-kind-of-sort-of your roommates if you have them, or your parents from the distance of a phone if you've moved out. (I have moved back in though, so even if I were single now, I wouldn't have the exact kind of autonomy that I do cherish.) It also provides endless opportunities for you to prove yourself to you - when your tire goes flat and you have to change it or when you force yourself to eat by yourself in a restaurant and not feel self-conscious or at the very least feel self-conscious but accept and do not give in to the self-consciousness. All sorts of things. You learn who you really are when you are single, I think, at least some aspects of yourself that a relationship can cloud or cover up. And casual dating can be fun too, loads of attention, no responsibility, no need to answer to anyone; you're all just having fun. (That gets tiresome, though. That can be painful, for one or both parties involved - not always you, by all means, but it's not fun to deal with someone else's hurt either, and if you're a guilty sort you can find yourself feeling that way about it.) It is important to achieve happiness on one's own, too, or first, as you probably know. But that happiness surely doesn't negate a desire for either. Anti-feminism is a complete and total turn-off for me. I totally get you there. Don't bother with that dude. You seem to have an idea that dating right now wouldn't be a good idea for you, maybe due to the limited pool, and/or also because you don't think you'd like how you'd act. Well, truth: I don't like how I act in romantic relationships. That doesn't mean I get all bitchy and mean or anything, in fact often the opposite: it is not easy for me to admit I care and I often get frustrated when my caring for another person causes me to act in a way that doesn't align with my underlying wants/desires. Compromise, right, you know? When you date, if you still worry you might become hung up over a guy's approval in lieu of your own sensibilities, just monitor yourself. Watch your own behavior and assess if, and how, it changes. Keep an eye out for the kind of behavior you don't want, but remember too that relationships do require give and take and that if you work too hard to avoid what you fear (puppy-begging for approval) you may overreact and instead seem cold, hard, indifferent, etc, and that will impact your relationships negatively too. The solution in the long term is not to avoid relationships but to learn how to navigate them, and yourself, successfully. If you don't like how a relationship begins to impact you, save the you that you value, leave, and do your best to move on. It isn't always easy of course. Emotions make people want to stay. It hurts to leave. That being said I think it's a wiser person who opts consciously not to date due to verbalized reasons than one who either jumps into dating in youth because of Disney movies and romances, or who avoids it out of fear or the idea that one is undesirable, etc. You are young and you have plenty of time and no, there's no need to get started dating now if you think it's unwise. If you really do think it would derail you from your priorities it's even kind of smart - but sometime you're going to have to let go a little bit :) As for engagements - oh honey. OH, honey. Five of my ex-boyfriends are married. 4 to the next girl they dated after me. I am the female good luck Chuck, haha. It is interesting to observe but I know it's not what I want right now. Mostly I get a kick out of all the weddings I'm not invited to. 15's way too young in my opinion - but then again, I'm 25 and don't feel quite old enough for it either :)