Is this the next sexy fad?

I went onto Craigslist recently to see what was new with "Men Seeking Women" and found these ...

I don't get it! What is with the headless naked torso?

I don't know one women who has ever ooohed and aaahed from photos like these. Women actually find well-dressed torsos with handsome faces attached MUCH sexier!

Alright, it's clear which shots are self-portraits, but the others ... hmmm ... can you imagine what is going through the photographer's mind? But even worse than headless naked torso pics are those hard cock close-up shots ... yes, oh so enticing!

Men, wake up! No, most women do NOT want to look at headless naked pics of you to choose their ideal mate or even lover. They're just plain gross and tacky. And more likely, it'll be other men checking you out ... think about it guys ...

48 Hours on Craigslist: An Interview with Mr. Maybe

Alright folks, it's a New Year and I've somehow skipped over the Holiday Season. How? Well, maybe it had something to do with this or maybe this ...

Frolicking with friends in the French Alps does hold a certain distraction :-D

Alright, alright ... now that we've determined the real issue of my non-blogging, I will accept total responsibility and catch you up on something I started last summer.

I am a lost sheep returning to the fold ... it is the New Year, right? ... Right? All is forgiven?

*********************************************************

Mr. Maybe agreed to meet me in a café/bar in a trendy part of town. He was actually already there when I arrived.

Promptness ... check!

I sat down on the bar stool beside him in front of the window and immediately fell off. I promptly moved the interview to a cosy little table where I couldn't embarrass myself further ... I am the Irongoddess after all and can't be seen sprawled across the floor of a public establishment!

Profile of Mr. Maybe (aka "Rodger"):

- slim, well-dressed man, early 30's, European background
- tidy appearance and hairstyle, clean-shaven

Presentation ... check!

- likes his job, works as an analyst but is far from being a computer geek
- soft-spoken, very polite
- never been married, no children
- hasn't been in a serious relationship for several years but is open to "seeing where things go", from a short fling to settling down ... doesn't believe in having a double standard if things start out on a more physical note (yes, he would see the girl again!)

Open-minded, comfortable with himself, non-judgmental ... check!

- recreational jogger and cyclist

Fit ... check!

- has been cooking for himself since he moved out 10 years ago ... "I can't live on peanut butter sandwiches!"
- cooking and cleaning have become habits over the years and they have in fact evolved into relaxing activities. Rodger takes comfort and pride in managing his home.

Cooking and cleaning ... CHECK!!!

Mr. Maybe's online dating history:

- Rodger's been dabbling with online dating for a year but has only been on Craigslist for the past 8-9 months
- a friend of his set up a profile for him on Plenty of Fish, but he prefers Craigslist over the other dating websites as it's easier (one-stop website) and he finds it entertaining ("like watching an episode of Seinfeld")
- uses a "form letter response" which he personalises according to the women's posts

- though he didn't remember what I'd written in my fake online post , he usually looks for the following qualities: easy-going, fun, nothing overtly sexual, someone who likes activities
- usually, there is something in particular that will trigger a response from him as he doesn't have a finite shopping list
- has so far only met a few women off the internet, but no one interesting enough to continue dating
- like me, he also asks the question, "Why would a guy want to take a picture of his own cock and why would a woman want to see it?" CHECK!!

Mr. Maybe's dating preferences:

- as Rodger comes from a large traditional household (8 kids!), he'd prefer a more traditional relationship with stereotypical male/female roles ... perhaps this is just "old school" conditioning according to him

- he admits though that he's not handy at all around the house and it's not essential that his partner cook
- he's remarked that in some of his friend's relationships, some of the women seem lost if they are not in the traditional role, but for himself, what counts most is that "at the end of the day, things have to get done."
- though he could date a sporty girl, he wouldn't want someone who was competitive
- Rodger likes girly-girls and actually finds their materialistic shopping habits kinda sexy, probably because he prefers a well-dressed, stylish, refined woman who takes pride in her appearance
- likes a confident woman who is not afraid in expressing who she is

Mr. Maybe's 5 words to describe Ms. Right:

Pretty, perky, intelligent, focused and fit

Mr. Maybe's 5 words to describe himself:

Easy-going, confident, funny, family and friend-oriented

Overall, I found Mr. Maybe to be quite pleasant and was amazed when he was astute enough to recognize the perfume I was wearing ("White Musk" from the Body Shop) ... AND he paid for my coffee! What a gentleman!

Closing comment on his first email to me:

"Although I like to cook for others, it may be best that we meet at a restaurant first to show you I am not a weirdo!!!"

A very sweet, sincere and charming fella, a little quirky but in a good way, and assuredly Mr. Right for some lucky girl out there ... write me if you're interested!

48 hours on Craigslist: The Results, Part II

First of all, my apologies for the tardiness of the results to my nifty social experiment ... been taking advantage of summer, that is, inbetween all the rain.

Alright ... in June, I posted "48 hours on Craigslist" where I placed two ads on Craigslist, one asking for a "forever-and-ever" type of relationship, the other asking for raunchy NSA sex (that's "no-strings-attached", folks). In my previous post, I delivered my findings on the second ad ... now it's time to examine the results to the first one:

Looking for Mr. Right - w4m - 33

Young professional ready to settle down and concentrate on the bigger picture. Would definitely love to start a family. I've devoted most of my 20's to studying and my career, putting my love life on hold. Now I'm ready to explore and discover what's out there!

I like candle-lit suppers, long walks in nature, and relaxed Sunday mornings with coffee and a good book. Though people might describe me as shy and reserved, I'm actually quite adventurous with the right person if I feel comfortable enough. I'm not super into fitness but do enjoy cycling and rollerblading from time to time and try to live a healthy lifestyle, though I do like nice wines.

Hoping you are out there somewhere, waiting for me, to start a caring, loving relationship based on honesty, respect and true intimacy ... xo

While composing this ad, I tried to write from the point of view of an intelligent, sweet, not-too-experienced girl ... someone a little shy and unpresuming but had direction and wouldn't intimidate most men with her interests or activities. I tried to list common things that most people would like, making her blend easily into or compliment most lifestyles.

Basically, I tried to make her as "vanilla" as possible without making her appear too boring.

The only element that I added to throw a guy off was her strong desire to find that "knight in shining armour", settle down and have kids, something which gives most men who just want to have a "good time" the heebie-jeebies.

Surprisingly, I received 21 letters, two within the first hour of posting on Craigslist! Are there really this many men out there who are looking for a meaningful relationship?

Could the ratio of men who want Commitment vs. Casual Sex really be as high as 1:5?
*Based on the responses received by both Craigslist postings

Here are the stats:

• Of the 61.9% that stated their age, the average was 33.9, the youngest being 25, and the oldest being 52 (I'm listed in my ad as 33.)
• 47.6% of the letters contained spelling or grammatical errors
• 14.3% of the respondents sent pics ... yes, of their faces, no body shots (a total of three men)

Mind you, taking a closer look at the emails received, I quickly realised that the majority of the men who responded were not actually interested in a relationship. They were looking for an audience or an admirer ... as I surmised from the almost total lack of interest in what I'd written in my Craigslist ad.

Many of the emails were evidently form letters, monologues about these men, who they were and what they wanted. Only a few made even a single comment about what they found interesting about my CL post which was that they too had left relationships on the backburner for too long.

Shortest email to try to woo me ... I almost fainted when I realised I'd found my soulmate at last! :

hi
whats your stats
professional 30m asian

Then of course, my heart skipped a beat when I read this gentlemen's email:

"I am the one you are looking"

Hello! I am a Professional black man looking for a female who loves to kiss , make love , love to get oral sex ,do fun things together and be in business together, maybe have a family and someone who I can trust ,preferably, for fun and cool conversation ...

Maybe he is "The One?" Like, what woman doesn't like to receive oral sex? JACKPOT!

Well, if I decide that he is not The One, then surely one of the other eight women he group emailed would think so. And if they don't think so, then maybe some other woman on Craigslist would think so. This man gets credit for his efficiency ... he sent out his CL ad verbatim as his love letter. Like, why fiddle with perfection?

Of course though, if I wanted to satisfy both my "carnal sexual hedonistic" AND "sweet innocent commitment-seeking" sides, I could always go for this guy, who wrote back to both of my CL ads:

Hi there!
I am D***. I am 25 and live in montreal. So you are horny. Can you keep it longer enough. Like all night. Are you sexualy strong enough. If you are i am up for it. write me back. if you are interested. Take care have fun. BYE

HI there!
I am D*** from Montreal. I am 25 years old. My height is 5,6 INC. My weight is 145POUNDS. I work in au auto garage 5 days a week and have weekend off. My hobbies are going on a long walk, music, movies, swimming, walking, and playing soccer. I go to GYM time to time. I love to laugh and make other people laugh. I am very talkative person. Thats all about me. If there is anything you would like to know about me just ask me. I would be more happy to answer your question. Thanks for reading my email. You have a wonderful day. Take care BYE

Well, maybe not ... that second letter seems a little monologuish and doesn't even show me that he's even read my ad ... (don't make the same mistake with internet dating, fellas!)

But I did receive one particularly interesting letter and was actually quite impressed with it ... I'm not at liberty to disclose the entire letter, but let's just say that he ended one fun paragraph with:

So it seems within the last 24h (or next 2) pretty did all the things you enjoyed based on your description!!!

Wow ... I had to meet him!

I wrote to him and explained that I was doing a social experiment ... would he consent to an interview? Stayed tuned for the next post as the Irongoddess interviews Mr. Maybe.

48 hours on Craigslist

I've decided to conduct a little social experiment on Craigslist ...

I've previously covered "men-seeking-women". Now, how about "women-seeking-men"?

I'm posting the following two ads today, Friday, at 6:00 pm and will take them down on Sunday at 6:00 pm. Let's see what kind of responses these illicit ... dum de dum ... ;-)

1)

Looking for Mr. Right - w4m - 33

Young professional ready to settle down and concentrate on the bigger picture. Would definitely love to start a family. I've devoted most of my 20's to studying and my career, putting my love life on hold. Now I'm ready to explore and discover what's out there!

I like candle-lit suppers, long walks in nature, and relaxed Sunday mornings with coffee and a good book. Though people might describe me as shy and reserved, I'm actually quite adventurous with the right person if I feel comfortable enough. I'm not super into fitness but do enjoy cycling and rollerblading from time to time and try to live a healthy lifestyle, though I do like nice wines.

Hoping you are out there somewhere, waiting for me, to start a caring, loving relationship based on honesty, respect and true intimacy ... xo

2)

I want to suck your cock - w4m - 24

Looking to be gang-banged. I'm feeling very horny and I want you now. Apply within.