Thursday, November 21, 2013

Women Take Control of Dating Strangers

Article: Some women meet their boyfriends and husband at school, in college, at church/synagogue, or at their jobs. Some are set up by friends and relatives. However, what about women who are finished with school and meet a man randomly, at a restaurant/bar or on vacation? There is no way to "vet" him and make sure he is a good person. A new social networking app, Lulu, responds to this. It lets women comment on men they know or have dated, and uses an algorithm to score these men on a scale of 1-10. Examples of ways to rate men include: #smellsgood; #tempertantrums; #wanderingeye; #handsome, #CanCook, etc. Women say that this gives them a sense of empowerment in a world where they often feel they lack power in dating. Men feel proud when they have a good score and some men say that bad scores have pushed them to become better boyfriends to improve their rating.

Discussion:
  • What do you think of this app idea? Discuss pros/cons to it from women/men's perspectives
  •  How did your parents meet? Was it in the "real" world or through a familiar social network (school/family/friends/set up)?
  • Why do known social networks feel safer for dating? (Accountability for bad behavior; can get recommendations and history of person and their family)
  • What are things you would rate someone over? Create your own categories.

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