Thread:Spencerz/@comment-1618941-20130512073023/@comment-1713281-20130512075451

Well, there's a few points to make.


 * I think that the field was made to try and accommodate as many scenarios as possible, which is why it includes things other than Married, Single, Civil Union, Domestic Partnership or Common-Law. We do in fact have characters in every status listed there on the site.


 * I think the Dating category was whipped up by someone, at some point, because we don't really have a middle ground. We go from Single to Engaged/Married/Ect., which leaves a grey area for characters like Potts and Stark, or for couples like Wiccan/Hulkling or Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson, both couples that were simply dating, or in a committed relationship, for a number of years before moving into engagement.


 * Piggybacking on the middle ground point, simply deleting Dating as a category will leave a number of characters with technically false info; While in the confines of the way we're interpreting the phrase Marital Status, you're single until engaged, in common public norms, if you're dating someone, in a committed relationship, ect., you're obviously not engaged or married, but your also not technically single either.


 * I also think it ends up being misleading since it's labeled as "Marital Status" as opposed to something like Relationship Status. Then again, we're not Facebook; Marital Status seems much more encyclopedic and professional.

I do get where you're coming from. I'm open to suggestions on what to list in cases like these instead of "Dating", or a better way to label the field in the infobox.

I'd have to bring any changes up with the rest of the admins, but I feel like they'd agree with your point.