These days there is so much talk about the need for equality between the sexes. The notion of sameness -- while not necessarily the same thing -- is often promoted strongly as well.

You often hear this in relation to debates about economic inequality. For example, feminists bemoan the lack of female CEOs, saying that women can be just as tough, ambitious and decisive as men.

Much of this is laudable, of course. It's also true, because there are many aspects of male and female psychology that hardly differ at all. But it can cause a lot of confusion and frustration as well -- particularly in intimate relationships. This is because whether we like it or not, men and women are also very different in so many ways -- often ones that are unchangeable.

Take the issue of a potential partner's relative height. Both men and women prefer it if the man is taller than the woman. And it seems that this requirement is more important for women than it is for men.

Here's an interesting and comprehensive post on this particular phenomenon.

An episode of the popular Australian soap opera Home and Away has a storyline that features online dating. It involves the character Leah Patterson-Baker.

Considering how widespread this method of meeting people actually is right across the globe, it seems a little odd that it isn't represented in television dramas more often.

That said, there may well be a good reason for this. It could be because the act of connecting online while sitting in front of a computer screen is inherently undramatic. There's just not enough "colour and movement" to hold the viewer's attention. That's why the scripts have people communicating face to face instead.

A female public servant has just won her long battle to be compensated by the Government for injuries she suffered while having sex in a motel room in country NSW. Her argument, initially rejected but then accepted on appeal, was that the incident occurred while she was on a work trip and so her employer was liable.

This outcome is interesting not just because of its legal ramifications. There also seems to be a societal aspect: the lack of shame of the compensation claimant.

I can't imagine such a thing occurring a couple of decades ago. I suspect that any woman who suffered such a bizarre misfortune would not seek compensation simply because of the potential for embarrassment. But this woman had no such trepidation. Not only did she make the claim in the first place; she kept persevering with it even after initially losing the case!

It's clear that online fraud -- much of which is carried out on dating sites -- has been rising at an alarming rate. But the attitude of law enforcement about how it should best be combated shows just how widespread the problem now is:

The Australian Federal Police argue that, just as drivers on public roads are penalised if they don’t wear a seat belt, internet users should be punished if they don’t use antivirus software, firewalls and password changes.

If this remedy is made law, and people end up losing their "licences" to surf the net, one wonders what will be next. Perhaps demerit points for being drunk online as well?

As online dating continues continues to grow in popularity all across the globe, there are more and more cases of crimes being committed by people who met others on such sites. Reports of scams, stalkings, rapes and even murders appear regularly in the media.

These acts are overwhelmingly committed by men against women. But every now and then it's the woman who is the aggressor.

The latest example of this occurred in Japan. A young woman called Kanae Kijima has been convicted of murdering three men she met on dating sites. Not surprisingly her case has generated enormous publicity.