Comments about WealthyMen.com
Here’s an article that is too good not to quote in full, Mike Dunham’s piece in the Anchorage Daily News about WealthyMen.com, one of several online dating sites appealing directly to greed (for the women) and sex (for the guys):
Personals site flaunts men who make six figures
HOT: With every other kind of dating service under the sun, why
not?
By MIKE DUNHAM
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: September 9, 2006)
This week I heard a radio ad for an Internet dating site where,
the sultry announcer said, “women outnumber men by 10 to one.”
The name of the site: “wealthymen.com.”
Strictly out of professional curiosity, I checked it out. The
home page promised women that here they would find (their grammar
and punctuation) “professional men making over $100k a year. ...
each profile is of real men who have excelled greatly in their
life, but are still seeking a partner to share their experiences
with. All women can set up a free profile, however, only a select
few men can join Wealthy Men as each of our members are verified
by a salary approval process. This is your chance to be a part of
a larger than life experience in an online personals website who
make their dreams a reality. Your prince awaits.”
You have to register to get past the home page and, being a male
who is eminently unqualified, salary-wise, I didn’t do that.
Instead I clicked on “customer service” and submitted a request
for an interview with whoever runs this thing on the premise that
readers might want to know what was on their minds when they
thought it up. Well, we know what’s on their minds—increasing
their own income by at least $100,000 a year—but it would
sound better if they said it.
I didn’t get a response, but I did get an eyeful. The home page
featured older men with chiseled faces posed next to young women
with chiseled abdomens. The men wore pricey, formal-yet-casual
fashions that brought to mind Hugh Heffner. The women were clad
in underwear.
For men, the site had this message: “Tired of receiving few
email/contacts due to so many guy members? At WM, you are the few
and proud. Finally a personals site to celebrate your success.
Enjoy. You’ve worked hard, now play harder.”
I’m clueless about such things as true love, but do guys making
$100 grand a year really have a hard time finding dates? If
they’re smart enough to earn that much through labor or well-
managed investments, wouldn’t they rather meet an accountant, MBA
or tax lawyer than a lingerie model?
Maybe I shouldn’t be shocked. It’s just a cyber-age variation on
a story as old as the Book of Judges. There are dating sites for
born-again Christians, Orthodox Jews, lonely liberals and
passionate conservatives seeking like-minded company. A site that
connects guys who have too much money with gals who find six-
figure incomes attractive in a man may be just what society
needs.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
