I'm not that old, just mid 30s. But when I was dating, you dated a while, then you were exclusive bf/gf for a few years, then you were engaged for a year, and then you got married. I married young, and didn't have any dating experience really because I married my first boyfriend in college. But why be a plate at all? That seems like a very one-sided arrangement. I think it's fine to date casually and not be exclusive (if you aren't intimate) but being exclusive to a man who is not exclusive to you seems like a raw deal. I can't see any benefits. Is it that women who are plates don't know that they are plates? Like they think he is their boyfriend but he's not? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just don't understand a lot of the finer points, I think because I just don't have the experience myself and I haven't seen it play out with my girlfriends.