Kathryn's Blog

Fit and Active? Snowmobiliers???

When I first saw this site www.fitness-singles.com described, I was offended. Here’s part of the press release:

“The website’s success in matching active, attractive singles, however, sometimes tempts the less active to the site. Whether ‘couch potatoes’ truly see themselves as fit or whether they want to be in relationship with those who are, Mattioli [President of the company] has a message for them - don’t bother.

“‘Not having a chiseled body isn’t a crime on our site, but passing yourself off as enjoying an active lifestyle when untrue does no good,’ explains Mattioli. ‘To save everyone the trouble of a bad match, we’re considering rejecting the truly unfit from our site.’”

Then I was perversely relieved. Get those folks who insist on"slender, attractive, fit and trim” partners off the regular dating sites and onto their own venue. Those demands discourage everyone who doesn’t measure up—or measure down, whatever thecase may be.

So I went over to take a look at the site. It’s nice and clean looking, lots of white. I do wish that the woman picture on the home page (otherwise very attractive and clean scrubbed looking)wasn’t leaning into the camera so much. The shot looks like thenasty surreptitious up-skirting and down-blousing photos that have been making the rounds.

The real surprise is the list of “sports” they include and sort singles by:

Aerobics Archery Badminton Baseball Basketball BMX Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Canoe/Kayak Cheerleading Cricket Cross-Training Curling Cycling Dance Disc Equitation Fencing Field Hockey Figure-Skating Fishing Football Golf Gymnastics Handball Hiking/Backpacking Horseshoes Hunting Ice Skating Ice/Roller Hockey Jogging Lacrosse Marathon Martial Arts Motocross MountainBiking Orienteering Paintball Pilates Polo Racquetball Race Walking Rifle/Pistol/Skeet Rock Climbing Roller/Inline Skating Rope Skipping Rowing Rugby Running Sailing Scuba/Snorkeling Skateboarding Skiing Snowboarding Snowmobiling Soccer Softball Spinning Squash Surfing Swimming Table Tennis Tennis Track andField Triathlon Ultimate Frisbee Volleyball Walking/Fitness Water Exercise Water Polo Water Skiing Weight Training White Water Rafting Windsurfing Wrestling Yoga

It includes my favorite Racquetball! I’m meeting Drew this noon to play. Racquetball is the ONLY sport I have ever loved.

Now does that mean I would not be bounced off this site? Because I am a racquetball enthusiast? I’ve certainly got a few years and pounds on that cutie on the home page. And they include BMX, cheerleading, cricket, curling, fishing, horseshoes, hunting, motocross, paintball, rope skipping, and snowmobiling in that list of sports! Paintball? Snowmobiling? Those are SPORTS?? I can think of tons of examples of participants who are anything but chiseled and fit. In fact, they could be more described as tons. And what the heck is BMX? Why doesn’t the site include extreme shopping and channel surfing to really round things out?

So I find this site just plain confusing. If you are looking for “active” folks, then your list includes just about everyone. But if you are looking for “slender, attractive, fit and trim” then just say so and not let anyone else on who doesn’t pass the superficial looks test.

BTW, I did a search on racquetball. About 14 folks came up. About half had terrible pictures, a quarter lots of beefcake and too much skin showing for my taste. None looked even close inage to me (mid-fifties and a little chubby).

From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord

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Comments

Hmmm, what should I put down for body type in my Match profile?

1. Bowling is a sport.
2. People who get paid to play sports are athletes.
3. I am fat, like the professional bowlers I see on TV.
4. Therefore, I have the build of an athlete.

Hooray, I can select the box for “athletic” body type!

Body type is one of the more interesting criteria that online dating sites list.  I usually ignore it entirely when others list it as a preference and figure that they will just use my photos to make up their minds.  Similarly, I list no preferences and ignore what women list in their own profiles in favor of the photos.  Do many people actually use the body type criterion to screen?

I actually saw this same press release and posted on my blog about it as well. It’s a specialty site where fitness and sports is emphasized for folks who would say that an active lifestyle is a high priority for them in a relationship. Singles who go to JDate do so to meet other Jews, just like datemypet.com is for singles who prioritize getting along with pets. The reason why I think you’re turned off, Kathryn, is exactly for that reason—choosing a partner on the basis of sports and fitness can be shallow. But that’s a good enough reason for me to make this website!

Additionally, the age range skews toward men and women no older than mid-forties. By that time I’m sure they’ve realized that gravity plays a big part in their lives and they’ll look for partners on websites promoting more lasting values.

Dr. Janice

I don’t trust dating sites and i am surprised they are so popular. I noticed many people attend to these sites, even those i never expected to. What is the big deal? You can get exposed to several dangers, i will not list them here, but we all now what these dangers are about.

Dating sites are popular because they work.  Simple. 

Dating and marriage expose you to PLENTY of dangers, but we still seem to be pursuing both.  Self care and protection are necessary skills to develop if you are going to get out from behind locked doors.

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