Oz Dating

From time to time there are reports in the media about variations on the speed dating theme. The latest one I've found is "weed dating", in which singles get to mingle while pulling out weeds in a field.

Somehow, I just don't see the attraction.

Most people are familiar with that oft-used phrase, "Everything old is new again". Well, here's a perfect example of that:

Councils in the Netherlands are offering unemployed women taxpayers' money to join a popular dating agency and get makeovers. The hope is that if they find long term partners their overall sense of wellbeing will improve and thereby their employment prospects.

It's a remarkable application of what many would deem to be somewhat old fashioned and conservative attitudes to relationships (that is, that single women are unfulfilled and unhappy). The fact that it's occurred in ultra-propgressive Holland is even more intriguing!

Here's still more proof that you should be careful using Facebook and other similar sites if you are in a relationship: Their use as a source of evidence in divorce cases is extremely common.

The Australian Sex Party is in the news again. This time it's for their quite surprising condemnation of a stripper who performed on Ayers Rock after her widely shown act outraged Aboriginal activists. The party has said the stripper was thoughtlessly seeking publicity.

But perhaps the same accusation could be made against them? They are a political party, after all, and adept at getting media attention.

Also, the Australian Sex Party's very existence would be seen as culturally insensitive by many religious groups. That's quite ironic. Still, such huge contradictions often occur when people try too hard to be selective and politically correct

Hot on the heels of the romance-themed comedy Dating in a Disposable World comes another show dealing with similar subject matter. It's called Love Bites, and has been successful in Sydney and overseas.

The idea that women like bad boys is a bit of a cliche. But there certainly is a lot of truth to it.

And it's not just the rebellious and moody James Dean types that women swoon over. A surprisingly high number of them are strongly attracted to criminals - even the very worst of them.

The pressures of celebrity really are huge. It's not surprising that more than a few famous people go mad, have nervous breakdowns or end up as alcoholics or drug addicts! Then there are the relationships ...

They often start out well. But they go belly up at a very high rate - and quite quickly too. Take Mel Gibson. His marriage is over, and the breakup was acrimonious. And now he's at loggerheads with the woman he left his wife for, and had a child with!

Being famous really is a poisoned chalice.

It appears that it's not just Aussies whose dating behavior has been hugely affected by today's amazing technology. A recent study in the US has shown that around 30% of relationships in that country begin online through online dating and social networking sites, chat rooms and classifieds.

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.