Oz Dating

Some more interesting information on relationships:

Even nowadays women bringing up kids alone often end up in less than ideal live-in relationships because of a lack of financial security.

Sad. And now with all this economic insecurity, the situation will probably only get worse. 

Speaking of research, here's another interesting statistical fact: The British are the most promiscuous people in the world. 

Things must have changed a lot over there in the last couple of decades. That nation has long had a reputation for being sexually repressed, particularly in comparison to the more decadent Europeans.

But now they're ahead of them! Sadly the French, who surely must have led the pack for quite a while there, are now lagging way behind in seventh place.

New research suggests that the problem of loneliness is growing in Australia, particularly for younger people.

That's pretty ironic considering all this social networking technology that's available nowadays. It's probably easier to meet people than at any time in human history. 

I keep reading about how today's young folk are heavily into "hooking up". No longer a spring chicken, I must confess to being confused about what this actually means. I knew it was kind of like dating, but not as most people know it. 

Here is an article that goes some way to explaining the difference. 

China's adoption of capitalism and more liberal western ways has had huge ramifications for businesses all over the world. And now the online dating industry has been affected. 

The Chinese version of Match.com, for instance, now boasts 8 million users! Amazing. 

When I first learned about Coolio using a matchmaking site, I was quite surprised. 

But there are a surprising number of celebrities using this method. And they've been doing it for quite a while. Here's a story from 2006 about the phenomena. 

We keep hearing about how the modern woman is bored with that throwback to a bygone era, the dinkum Aussie bloke; that she'd much prefer to be wined and dined by a cashed up metrosexual who is also whiz in the kitchen.

But the truth seems to be rather different, if a recent survey of the female members of a large Australian online matchmaking site is any guide. Seems that they'd much prefer the company of real men who can build stuff than sensitive refined types and corporate raiders. As one bloke put it, "the ladies prefer tradies". 

Many people fantasize about having relationships with celebrities, while remaining convinced that they will never come true.

But in reality the star you've longed to meet may be more available than you think. In fact, he or she may even be just a few mouse clicks away on a dating site you've joined.

The US rapper Coolio is a case in point. He used a dating site to meet his girlfriend.

He was filming a reality show at the time, so there may have been commercial motivations involved. Still, he's certainly making it more acceptable for those who, like him, are very well known. There must be others who are using online matchmaking already, or will in the future.

Makes you wonder how many dating site profiles don't have photos attached not because the member lacks confidence, but because he or she is a celebrity who doesn't want to be sprung!

Schapelle Corby's sister Mercedes has posed for Aussie men's mag RALPH. It's interesting that she should do such a thing. You would think that most women pose naked when they are strapped for cash. But she's recently won a huge defamation payout. 

I suspect it's because she quite enjoyed all that media attention during the trial and wants to get some more of it. 

Some people theorize that devotees of S&M have found a healthy way to sublimate their violent, aggressive impulses. Get these urges out in a structured and ritualistic way, they say, and you become a much more placid, peace loving person.

Sounds plausible. But as these bizarre recent events show, that logic doesn't always hold.