A potential new read

While searching profiles recently a guy listed the following book as his current read.  I have to admit I was interested and thought I'd share it here (as it seems fitting).  I think I may pick it up after I finish my current read. I'll let you know if anything inspiring comes from it.

Manning Up: How the  Rise of Women has Turned Men Into Boys
By Kay Hymowitz

"Women complain there are no good men left—that men are immature, unreliable, and adrift. No wonder. Masculine role models have become increasingly juvenile and inarticulate: think of stars like Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, or the dudes of the popular Judd Apatow movies. There are no rules for dating and mating. Guys are unsure how to treat a woman. Most importantly, dating in the pre-adult years is no longer a means to an end—marriage—as it was in the past. Many young men today suspect they are no longer essential to family life, and without the old scripts to follow, they find themselves stuck between adolescence and “real” adulthood. In Manning Up, Kay Hymowitz sets these problems in a socioeconomic context: today’s knowledge economy is female friendly, and many of the highest profile areas of that economy—communications, design, the arts, and health care—are dominated by women. Men are increasingly left on the outskirts of this new, service economy, and take much longer to find a financial foothold. With no biological clock telling them it’s time to grow up, without the financial resources to settle down, and with the accepted age of marriage rising into the late 30s or even 40s, men are holding onto adolescence at the very time that women are achieving professional success and looking to find a mate to share it with. A provocative account of the modern sexual economy, Hymowitz deftly charts a gender mismatch that threatens the future of the American family and makes no one happy in the long run."

With Chivalry Dead is Romance Next?

As women have taken a stronger role in the dating scene and are learning to embrace our own sexuality, have the standards for men’s behavior declined? Men now wait for women to make the first move, kiss without being invited and before dating, expect sex early (okcupid most men say after the 3^rd date) , have stopped coming up with creative romantic dates, have stopped paying for dinner… What ever happened to courting a woman?

Although I personally enjoy playing a stronger role in society and in love affairs there is still a (large) part of me that wishes men stayed true to some of the older standards. I feel as though when we jump to kissing and sex so quickly it takes away some of the heated anticipation, the mystery, the butterflies. I want butterflies! I want to be nervous and excited the first time I undress you… and why is it that we jump straight from kissing to sex? What happened to just getting to see someone topless, and then getting to see someone naked, and then getting to have sex with them… I like the drawn out…what’s going to happen next. Instead it just happens all at once shirt pants underwear gone sex done and you’re out the door… What happened to learning someone else’s body, finding the freckles, scars, dimples and exploring parts of him one at a time.

I want to go back in time when the kiss was something special, something you gave someone you cared for, not some stranger you just met at the bar.

Match.com

Alright so I took your advice and joined match.com back in late June. Here is what I have found so far:

• The number of emails that I get is much fewer than on plenty of fish or okaycupid. (although the messages seem to be a little better)
• I'm actually a little more successful if I email guys first. Which is fine but means investing more time finding people.
• Winking is useless, I've never had someone message me after a wink
• I have been winked at by atleast three men over 50 (gross) and very few other men
• I would agree that men appear to be looking for something more serious
• The "Stir Events" feature that inspired me to join is not actually available in Seattle. It is only available in 31 cities nation wide. 
• It deletes your received emails, favorites, and winks every 30 days. Which kinda sucks.
• And the question you really want answered... How many dates? I have met three guys from match so far. 
• The first: I saw him for about a month but there just wasn't that spark, chemistry, romantic interest (whatever you wanna call it)
• The second: I went on a first date with a guy and it was clear that neither of us really had any interest in the other
• The third: The third guy I also went out with for about a month, 5-6 dates I think. I really thought it was turning into something great when it suddenly got totally fucked up. Ooops...

Well that's it so far. I'll let you know how Mr. Number 4 goes.