Since there has been such an explosion in online dating lately (as well as offline trends such as the speed dating craze) it's surprising that there hasn't been a commensurate increase in the number of films and plays about singles on the hunt for love.

However, a Perth writer and performer has created a play based on this theme. Not surprisingly, it's a comedy.
 
 
I have read about how dating sites are increasingly being blamed for relationship breakdowns. These reports aren't that frequent; they just seem to trickle in. But lately there has been a flood of stories about social networking sites such as Facebook and their deleterious effect on relationships - marriage in particular.

I think one of the reasons these sites can be particularly problematic in this regard is that people tend to join up with no intention of having affairs. So they are connected to their friends, wives and husbands much as they are in the real, offline world. But eventually they get embroiled romantically with someone within this network - or closely connected to it - so it's just much more likely that others within it will find out. The betrayed spouse inevitably gets the news and all hell breaks loose!

If people join dating sites they are going outside of their traditional social circles with the intention of finding sex, love or romance. To put it bluntly these tend to be "fresh fields" for the dating site member. They are contacting people they probably would never meet in any other way.

So there's probably just as much (or more) infidelity occurring via dating sites. It's just that the protagonists are less likely to get found out.
 
 
This Melbourne artist has found an unusual way to take advantage of online dating sites. He's using them to find as many people as possible to kiss then documenting the process in a blog.

It doesn't sound very artistic to me. It's pretty gimmicky in my opinion. But you've got to admire the guy's chutzpah. He's certainly lifting his media profile and he may well get a book deal out of this. And of course he's getting to indulge in all those pash sessions - which hardly sounds like work!
 
 
It's Red Hot Pie's turn to poll its members on their attitudes. Not surprisingly, the questions were of a more sexual nature than the one before.
 
 
Dating sites conducting surveys has become a regular occurrence. The latest one was run by the Australian subsidiary of eHarmony.

Close to 150 000 people were polled. Presumably these were all members of the site, which is why it's hardly surprising that they rated friendship very highly, and looks and sex appeal were further down the list. I suspect that if the survey were run by one of the adult dating sites, the results might be a bit different!
 
 
Here's another interesting - but hardly earth shattering - little revelation about the differences in dating behavior between men and women: Psychological testing has revealed that women tend to eat less when on a date with a man than at other times.

The researches who carried out the study believe that this is because smaller meals signal attractiveness. Although why that might be is not clear. Perhaps it's because it shows the man that the woman is very conscious of her weight, and wishes to be pleasing to the eye? Or maybe it's to highlight the difference in behavior - in much the same way that women wear dresses as opposed to trousers?
 
 
We are all familiar with the stereotype of the dumb blonde, which continues to persist even in these post-feminist times.

Not only is it inaccurate; it seems to be the opposite of what is really the case. That is, blondes might actually be quite a bit smarter than average - at least when it comes to money!  A University of Queensland study of 13000 women revealed that blondes tend to earn 7% more than other women and also generally marry richer men.

An academic who ran the study thinks these results might be due to the strong association between blondeness and beauty (as opposed to blondeness and lower intelligence). But you never know, the latter (reputed) quality might have something to do with the results - at least as it pertains to marriage. Maybe those rich men want a beautiful and intellectually non-threatening wife?
 
 
A beautiful young woman with a brain tumour is now selling dates to men, and then passing the proceeds to charity.

While it certainly is a constructive and inventive way of dealing with such tragic misfortune, it does seem a little ghoulish to me.
 
 
Iceland might be the first country in the world to outlaw its sex industry. It has just passed a law banning strip clubs.

This is interesting, because these changes have come about not as a result of activism from conservatives, but from feminists.
 
Mistress sued 03/23/2010
 
When a married man has an affair with a woman and his marriage falls apart as a result, he's the one who usually pays for the breakup. But here's a case in which that tradition has been upended: Cynthia Shackelford has sued her husband's mistress for wrecking her marriage, and has been awarded ten million dollars.