I hate casual dating, and I feel like it’s the only type ‘dating’ that people do anymore. Are people who are still looking for love going to be forever alone? Is monogamy still a thing?

I am 22, my age might be relevant to the topic. I guess my question for people is, do you guys actually meet people who want commitment anymore? For insight, I went on a date with a guy that I genuinely felt was going to be someone that is a little bit more serious. We met before in real life and the topic that made us start talking online was actually politics, we shared similar views and ways of thinking. He bought me my favorite dessert for our first date and ofc it seemed to me like he wasn’t that type of guys that sleeps around, since we never ever spoke about sexual stuff and we had pretty good, serious conversations.All good, until our second date, a week later, when he was trying to touch me in ways I wasn’t comfortable with yet. I also noticed that he was talking to girls on tinder, and he also went on a date with someone else when I stated my disinterest in casual relationships.

Now, my frustration with the hook-up culture is the following, while I get that many people do not want something serious and are allowed to date around especially since we’ve only been on just a few dates (it’s not like I had feelings for him already, anyway), why is it so normalized to be interested in casual dating and not state that fact at the very beginning? Is casual dating the new norm? Why was he speaking to other girls so casually in front of me, was I not supposed to lose interest when I saw I was ‘one of the many’? Is this behavior normal now, or am I crazy? because I feel like when you go on a date with someone the initial presumption should be that you want to get to know that one person, not that you’re keeping your options open, or if you do so, you should state it from the beginning. I feel like nowadays it’s the other way around, people pretend to court one another and the just sleep with each other, and the person who actually wants something more is the one who’s supposed to mention that.

Also, how is it acceptable that you court someone and then also date 3 other people at the same time, and then the other person has no right to say anything about it, because you’re not together. But when you choose to repeatedly go on a date with the same person, don’t you have a certain amount of responsibility to that person, even when you’re not together? How am I going to not lose interest in someone that has many love interests? What’s the point of saying you are ‘dating’, if you’re just having sex. Why when someone asks you on a date, it’s not certain if they are seeing other people or not, am I old school for thinking that when someone intends to take you out, they are interested in getting to know you and you only?