dating opportunities

by dawn ~ July 25, 2007

This morning mental floss magazine has an article about “niche dating sites.” Above and beyond the true and blue match.com, eharmony, and craigslist (hey, if you’re in for an unencumbered night of passion, I’ve heard craigslist is IT), there are sites that cater to the discerning dater.

More of a cup half-empty type of person? WeNeither is the place for you. Don’t like bananas in your wheaties? Someone out there hates it just as much as you do. Hate the rain? Your perfect match is huddled in a doorway waiting for the sun to shine and watching her Blackberry to see if you shoot her an email. I think this is the ultimate of pessmistic dating. What if you don’t like people? How do you meet people who don’t like people? Or if you’re starting everything on the negative, will anything ever get positive?

Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
Make me a match,
Find me a find,
catch me a catch

Some niche sites are a bit more personal (and allow users to face the reality of certain conditions). Prescription4Love is geared toward daters who have special health considerations like obesity, STDs, or infertility (among many others). IBS Dating (Irritable Being Single) is for daters who deal with irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease — mostly so they don’t have to be embarrassed telling their date about the issue and why they need to be near restrooms.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Look through your book,
And make me a perfect match

SugarDaddie.com is one of those places that just makes me shake my head. I mean, come on. “Where the classy, attractive, and affluent can meet”??? Who determines if they are truly classy and/or attractive? MillionaireMatch and WealthyMen do the same thing. WealthyMen even focused on my IP and told me the men in my area making over $100,000 a year. Hmmm…didn’t even know that many men made that much money here (and I doubt most of them are truly that wealthy).

Dream Matches is along the same lines. It’s an exclusive online community only for those who are very HAWT. Eh? How old are we? It’s the next step (not necessarily up) from Hot or Not.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
I’ll bring the veil,
You bring the groom,
Slender and pale.
Bring me a ring for I’m longing to be,
The envy of all I see.

Nerd Passions helps those of us on that geekier side to find one another. Oh…it’s a little like finding love in a petri dish. Funny thing is, most of the guys are like the guys I tend to talk to the most…smart, interesting, if a bit socio-phobic. Oh…wait…that’s me. Ahem.

Vegetarian? Want to meet other non-flesh eating omnivores? Ok, I joke about that but I don’t eat much meat, either. VeggieDate is the place for you. The name makes me think of VeggieTales or, conversely, the obscene things that I’ve heard some people do with vegetables. It does not imbibe me with much confidence.

I found lots of sites geared toward American men who want (insert nationality here –> Russian, Chinese, Thai, Latin, etc.) women. A lot of sites.

Wht this makes me wonder is how any of us actually meet the right person. I mean, really…what if my perfect match is on DateMyPet.com and I’m on DemocraticSingles? Am I doomed?

Maybe I should just start my own site: Thinkstoomuchandhatespost-structuralismsingles.com. I wonder if it would work. Hmmm…

lyrics from Matchmaker by Sheldon Harnick