East Asian women :

The women on the other hand are seen as exotic sexual beings or again, martial arts masters. However even the later is often portrayed in a overly sexualized way, with lithe beautiful actresses executing fluid movements that while in real life may not be deadly sure are sexy.

African American men :

African American men are usually portrayed as athletic or rhythmical, put in roles of the sports star, rapper or gangster. Education and intelligence is rarely stressed and the hero almost always have a (or many) woman at his side.

African American women:

See as feisty and venomous. African American women are often portrayed as being loud, constantly shouting and often hostile.

Do these stereotypes influence our choice of a mate? I venture to say that there is problem an influence on the young and may explain the large influx of foreign (Caucasian) English teachers in East Asia, the majority of who seem to be men.

Many things have changed very quickly in the last few decades, amongst them the tolerance of different cultures. It was only 50 years ago when black Americans were purposely segregated and only a hundred years ago when the Chinese head tax was enforced; both legitimizing the separation of people based on ethnicity.

Today such things are not tolerated, and any kind of racism is for the most part frowned upon. But what about dating between the races? While a person may not harbor any outright negative feelings for other ethnicities or cultures, does that mean she/he would be willing to be intimate or hopefully spend the rest of their lives with someone that is not from their own race or culture?

multicultural

Based on empirical observation the answer seems to be yes, and no. While many of the younger generation seem very willing to give someone of a different ethnicity a try in the dating game, there seems to be a few factors in the way.

multicultural

Firstly, there is the different cultural background. While many people find this to be a positive, treating is as a learning experience others shy away from it. Many find comfort in similar backgrounds, in situations and customs that they understand, therefore dating someone with different custom maybe a challenge.

multicultural

Secondly, there is the family acceptance. While the vast majority feels no hesitation in socializing with someone from a different ethnic and cultural background, having their songs/daughters romantically attached to one such person is something different. There are many uncertainties to such a proposition; which religions holidays will be celebrated? How would the kids be raised?

new friends

Finally there are certain media stereotypes that may influences the masses. Asian men are seen as geeks or kungfu masters; African American men Gangsters. While our logical minds tell us that they are simply stereotypes, they may still hold influence.

new friends

So what's the conclusion? There is none. Some find the exotic experience a positive, while others find the cultural difference not so appealing. Either way it's a personal choice to be made by the individual.

new friends

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If you watch enough movies you will notice that certain stereotypes repeat themselves over and over again. Of course we know that they are simply stereotypes and do not necessarily reflect reality, but are we influenced by them at all?

Masculinity and femininity are defined by the masses; what we perceive as sexually desirable or not depends on the cultural view on the subject. Take for example, the subject of weight. It wasn't that long ago when a plump woman was considered desirable. Look at any catwalk around the world and you'll see that is no longer true.

So what are the stereotypical perceptions of the various races? I'm not going to cover everything, but here are some of the common ones:

East Asian men:

These are portrayed as two things, either the geek or martial arts master. Even in movies where the Asian man is the hero, he almost never gets the girl at the end, rather settling for a thank you hug or a peck on the cheek.

East Asian women:

The women on the other hand are seen as exotic sexual beings or again, martial arts masters. However even the later is often portrayed in a overly sexualized way, with lithe beautiful actresses executing fluid movements that while in real life may not be deadly sure are sexy.

African American men:

African American men are usually portrayed as athletic or rhythmical, put in roles of the sports star, rapper or gangster. Education and intelligence is rarely stressed and the hero almost always have a (or many) woman at his side.

African American women:

See as feisty and venomous. African American women are often portrayed as being loud, constantly shouting and often hostile.

Do these stereotypes influence our choice of a mate? I venture to say that there is problem an influence on the young and may explain the large influx of foreign (Caucasian) English teachers in East Asia, the majority of who seem to be men.

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Sometime in the distant past, when I was younger parties consisted of dozens of people. When there was an outing, birthday or just to go hang out, the entire phone list was called; and the phone list was big. Now, the circle of friends has dwindled to a handful and meeting people is no longer a matter to going to school and meeting friend's friends.

So you're no longer in school and the office consists of half a dozen old ladies, where do you go to meet new people?

1) Bars/clubs/lounges:

These are probably the places that first come to mind when one thinks of socialization, but are in fact probably the worst place to meet new people. Reasons are simple, they're loud, crowded and provide very few opportunities to introduce yourself. Most conversations at clubs consist of a few simple words and nothing more.

2) The gym:

Again one of the places that comes to mind when thinking about place to meet new people but probably not the best of choices. Most people go to the gym to, guess what? Work out! Many don't like to be bothered with chit chat because if you're chit chatting you're not exercising. Obviously if you've got an amazing physique your chances are probably better than the couch potato on his fast day in the gym, but on average not the best pick up place.

3) The mall:

The various malls around the world are surprisingly good place to meet new people. Most people that go to the malls have time on their hands and won't mind chatting. There are also usually topics of mutual interest (for example items in a particular store) that can be brought up. The environment is relaxing (designed to keep you in the stores to buy more merchandise) and conducive to socializing.

4) (insert interest) classes:

Interest classes are a great place to meet new people. People that go obviously have the same interest as you, an automatic topic starter. Smaller classes are also designed to have a very social atmosphere so that all the students get to know each other. Lastly there are often exercises or projects that require close team work.

5) Online dating/social networking sites:

This one is both good and bad depending which site you visit. In terms of raw numbers this is the best place as you can “meet” hundreds of new people in a very short span of time. The downside is of course the chances of continued interaction with any particular person are rather low. The trend seems to be more involvement in social networking sites around the world, which may help make it a closer approximation of real interaction.

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The pace of technological advancement is really amazing. Ten years ago people actually still used answering machines; to reach someone you usually call their home, and if they’re not home leave a message on the answering machine. Now, anyone can be reached almost anywhere almost anytime on their cell; few people even leave voice mail anymore, as they know that their number will show on the caller ID.

This has created a society where people look for instant gratification, where waiting is considered a waste of time. Coupled with the information age, where just about anything can be found on the World Wide Web, and the busy schedules many youths and young adults have and we have a culture where people find friends and dates online.

How effective is it? I have no idea, but it seems many of my friends are trying out online dating; many have claimed success through this method. Many aren't even looking for dates really, but rather just looking to meet potentially interesting people even as just friends.

One appeal is that in the online world, you can meet ALOT of different people in a short amount of time. Granted, most you probably will not continue to contact, but even if you hit it off with a small percent of the hundreds of people on your contact list, that still translates into a lot of people.

Finally, the social taboo of meeting strangers on the internet has died down. Now it has become a very much normal part of society, where people sometimes even encourage it. Recently many new social networking sites/dating sites of come up, many are poorly designed; thrown together just for the sack of having a site. Some have great execution but lack content, which is a shame. However there are real gems out there that provides nice user interface, a pleasant layout and great content.

For the busy people out there, maybe it's for you?

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The information age, everything you need to know can be found at your finger tip. What about potential partners? Well now that can be Googled up as well. Since the turn of the century and the full boom of the internet, online dating has been a huge market around the world. Those looking to find dates, new friends or potential life partners can now browse through thousands of listings with photos, stats and everything else that one needs to know to evaluate a person.

Makes you kind of wonder now doesn't it? Why are all these people online displaying themselves hoping to land a suitable match? And who are these people?

Lets take a minute to consider the demography of the people in the online ads and I'll break these up in three categories for analysis:

1) Gender:

Go through most online dating sites and you'll quickly realize that there are a lot more women than men. Men have no problems posting their pictures, age, and yearly income online; where as women seem more careful about what they post and where they post it.

2) Age:

Even though the stereotype is that technology and the internet are for the younger generation, a healthy portion of online profiles are posted by baby boomers. Lets face it, as we age we have much less opportunities to socialize in real life, the internet provides a convenient venue.

3) Purpose

People post pictures and profiles online for various purposes. This is different for different age groups and different genders. Of course there is little hard evidence to back this up, but from observation and personal accounts it seems to be thus:

- Women tend to go online to meet new friends

- Men tend to go online to get dates

- Older people try to meet long term partners

- Younger people don't mind flirting to have fun

So next time you go online to browse through these thousands of profiles, ask yourself what it is that you're looking for, and where to target to best obtain results.

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