The Singles Market....

I've recently read that the number of single people has just kept increasing.... I read about it on the Forecasts section, of the World Future Society home page....

This would seem to offer opportunities. Not only for romance related businesses (which is what first sprang to my mind), but also for various service related businesses (like housecleaning, pet care, financial help for singles, etc.).

Why are the number of singles is increasing? Is it just that people are busier, or is there more to it than that....?

Also, what other opportunities could there be from this apparent trend....?

Thanks.... :)

- Dien

> First, why do you think that the number of
> singles is increasing? Is it just that
> people are busier, or is there more to it
> than that....?

First, ARE the number of singles increasing for real? Or is what is called "single" covering a wider area?

If you're engaged (whether you live together or not) or are involved and therefore "spoken for" (whether you're living together or not), you are, in my opinion, not single.

However, as you're not married, technically you're single.

At what age do I decide someone is available to be called single?

Having decided what the accepted definition of single is, when used in this "trend", I'd then need to know how it pans out as a percentage.

If 10% of the population are single and the population is 100, then 10 are single.

If 10% of the population are single and the population is 200, then 20 are single. In real number terms, the number of people who are single has increased. As a percentage though, the number of single people has stayed the same.

To hear, "the number of single people are increasing" without knowing all the guidelines that were used to come to this conclusion, makes the statement a bit meaningless.

Having said that, lets assume the definition of what is single has stayed the same and the increase is percentage based.

The question was "Why?".

One reason is

Burning Bras.

Women have been conned into believing they should go out and work.

I say "conned" because I cannot comprehend any women who, when given the choice of long work hours or "honey you stay home and let me do all the hard work and provide for you and look after you", would choose to work.

Me not understanding Why a person would choose to work over being looked after doesn't stop it from happening though. So that's one reason.

It means, no longer does a girl/women get married and let the man provide. She now "Works".

Her goal shifts from finding a mate (only briefly mind you - you can't fool nature) to a career. And that means less time for boys, for the time being.

This career thing also means more study - night courses, university, etc.

The domain of nearly all men learning centres has given way to co-ed learning centres. Of course, it also means more money for the learning centres. So they'd gladly keep the con alive.

Time spent in a learning centre means less time for boys.

Another reason stems from modern technology.

We now have more and more entertainments. And easier access to information about entertainments and other things.

Years ago a girl might not have known what the latest fashions coming out of Europe were. But now, she can't not know. It screams at her from the magazine rack, it screams at her from the TV. If she wants to stay "hip" and "up to date" with the fashion world, she needs money.

To feed her fashion addiction to the extent she's been brainwashed by the fashion houses, she needs a source of income. That means a careers (less time for boys) and the schooling to get the career (less time for boys).

So she stays single, longer.

Also, the desire to follow the fashion trends makes a woman less-attractive to a guy. So they guy want them less.

Girls... want to know what looks good on you? Ask a real man, don't listen to lesbian fashion magazine editors and poofter clothing designers.

Hint: Marilyn Monroe wasn't a sex-symbol for nothing. And I cannot imagine her being thought of as "sexy" if she'd worn clogg-heeled shoes, hipster-flare pants and a boy hair style.

Most people don't go to university for the sake of their career. They may say that's why they go. But deep deep down, if they were totaly truthful, they'd say, "it's just what you do." Yep, most go to university because that's what you do. Just like you go from junior classes to senior classes. From PRE-school to school. Primary school to high school. From high school to university. It's just what you do. It's the now-automated path of learning.

On top of this (as if this isn't enough already), you have parents, who were brought up in a different climate, wanting their kids to "have the education they never had" and to BE lawyers and Doctors and other big-money individuals.

Some parents would even see the success of their child as a kind of trophie.

Also, more people have bought into the myth of their own home being their biggest asset. To acquire this asset means money which means career which means schooling which means less time for boys.

Anyway. The need for money creates the need to get an income source, which means more schooling, and goes hand in hand to mean a career, which means less time for boys. All coupled with the acceptibility of it all created by GERMaine Greer.

> Also, what other opportunities could there
> be from this apparent trend....?

The opportunities available, assuming this trend was in fact real, would depend on the area the trend was in.

Is this trend based on trailer-trash professional-welfare-bludgers or higher income earning individuals?

If it's the trailer-trash professional-welfare-bludger, then they are staying single cause the government will look after them quite nicely. (just like they could have been looked after by a man in the old days. Isn't this ironic?). This "group" has little spare money.

If it's the higher income group, then first thing you need to do is figure out what generation they are. If they're generation X, good luck to you HA! GenX is probably the hardest group to sell to.

Really though, you'd have to get inside their head to know what could be available.

Pet care? Do they even own pets?

House/flat cleaning? They may not like giving the key to someone to come in and clean while they're out enjoying their hyper-spending-and-consuming lifestyle.

Personaly I'd go with something they are already spening money on.

Singles Club? Maybe. Maybe not. They may be too engrossed in their career to bother hitting the singles clubs. Besides, they're single cause they aren't doing too much in the way of finding a mate. It could bea good idea for when they're ready to "settle down".

Home delivered "insert item here".

Food - they're too busy to cook, or were never taught how.
Entertainments - save them time browsing the video store shelves by delivering the videos to their door. Assuming nothing good is on HBO :o)
Dry Cleaning - pick it up and deliver it.

Whatever. Find something they're spending money on already and that'll make your life a heck of a lot easier when getting in to this market.

Keep an eye out for things which are taking off, and which aren't in your area yet. Then transplant it to your area.

Live in a university town? Then find out what's taking off for university students and bring it to your town - or take it to a university town that doesn't have it yet. You get the idea.

Researching this market should reveal all the opportunities you'll ever need.

Michael Ross.

Hi Michael,

As usual, a powerful and thought-provoking post!

> First, ARE the number of singles increasing
> for real? Or is what is called
> "single" covering a wider area?

> If you're engaged (whether you live together
> or not) or are involved and therefore
> "spoken for" (whether you're
> living together or not), you are, in my
> opinion, not single.

> However, as you're not married, technically
> you're single.

That's a great point....

I think that most people are going by the marriage data - that a much fewer percentage of people are married now than people in a similar age range 20 years ago.

As you point out, that doesn't mean that they aren't "spoken for" in some way....

In that case, while *technically* they are "single," in reality they are not....

If you took this into account, would the results be different? And Michael, I bet you're right, they could be!

> Having said that, lets assume the definition
> of what is single has stayed the same and
> the increase is percentage based.

> The question was "Why?".

> One reason is

> Burning Bras.

> Women have been conned into believing they
> should go out and work.

> I say "conned" because I cannot
> comprehend any women who, when given the
> choice of long work hours or "honey you
> stay home and let me do all the hard work
> and provide for you and look after
> you", would choose to work.

> Me not understanding Why a person would
> choose to work over being looked after
> doesn't stop it from happening though. So
> that's one reason.

> It means, no longer does a girl/women get
> married and let the man provide. She now
> "Works".

> Her goal shifts from finding a mate (only
> briefly mind you - you can't fool nature) to
> a career. And that means less time for boys,
> for the time being.

Yes, there's been a big cultural shift....

Trying to look at it from a woman's point of view (even though I'm a man), I think there's a big increase in freedom for women in many ways....

I think women are still generally free not to have a career if they choose not to. (At least that's my impression....)

Where women have much more freedom now is in economic freedom. Because today's woman tends to have a career, I think money probably plays a smaller role in her decision to go out with a guy than it did 50 years ago....

There are highly successful women, though, who choose to leave their careers after having a child....

My cousin (in the US) has very strong views regarding women's liberation etc. She had a highly successful position working in government and politics, she was one of the people who actually was drafting new laws.

The system in the USA is that the President and Congress set out the general idea of what a new law should say, and then people like her draft the actual details. It was an important position....

I visited them (her and her husband) in 1998. What I saw when I was visiting was she was working almost without a break.... If she was *lucky* she could take Sunday off - but often she had to work on Sunday along with every other day of the week....

But last year my cousin gave birth to a baby girl. She left her highly prestigious job in government and politics, to devote her time fully to her child.... She doesn't miss her career at all.... And remember, she is a woman with strong feminist views....

Feminism has probably changed some of the nature of relationships compared to 50 years ago....

From a male view, it can be perplexing. Just being like our dads doesn't work as well any more, since the world is changing....

However, if you try to look at it from a woman's point of view, I can see the advantages they see.... Even though it means more work, it also means more economic power, and therefore more freedom of choice....

> Another reason stems from modern technology.

> We now have more and more entertainments.
> And easier access to information about
> entertainments and other things.

> Years ago a girl might not have known what
> the latest fashions coming out of Europe
> were. But now, she can't not know. It
> screams at her from the magazine rack, it
> screams at her from the TV. If she wants to
> stay "hip" and "up to
> date" with the fashion world, she needs
> money.

> To feed her fashion addiction to the extent
> she's been brainwashed by the fashion
> houses, she needs a source of income. That
> means a careers (less time for boys) and the
> schooling to get the career (less time for
> boys).

> So she stays single, longer.

That's an excellent point!

The fashion world has a real coup going. What's the "in" fashion changes every year, so fashionable people feel a need to buy a whole new set of clothes every year just to keep up....

> Also, the desire to follow the fashion
> trends makes a woman less-attractive to a
> guy. So they guy want them less.

> Girls... want to know what looks good on
> you? Ask a real man, don't listen to lesbian
> fashion magazine editors and poofter
> clothing designers.

> Hint: Marilyn Monroe wasn't a sex-symbol for
> nothing. And I cannot imagine her being
> thought of as "sexy" if she'd worn
> clogg-heeled shoes, hipster-flare pants and
> a boy hair style.

You're right! Most guys, I think, want a woman who looks like a woman.... Fashion supermodels generally don't have womanly curves, yet that's what most men still want....

Each man's individual preferences of course differs (just like women's preferences differ too).... What one man finds attractive might not be what another man does.... The world has far more diverse preferences than the fashion magazines say!

> Really though, you'd have to get inside
> their head to know what could be available.

> Pet care? Do they even own pets?

> House/flat cleaning? They may not like
> giving the key to someone to come in and
> clean while they're out enjoying their
> hyper-spending-and-consuming lifestyle.

> Personaly I'd go with something they are
> already spening money on.

> Singles Club? Maybe. Maybe not. They may be
> too engrossed in their career to bother
> hitting the singles clubs. Besides, they're
> single cause they aren't doing too much in
> the way of finding a mate. It could bea good
> idea for when they're ready to "settle
> down".

Have you heard of "speed dating"? It's been in the news a few times.... It seems like an interesting trend, which may fit in with the "singles" thing, as well as the general lack of time....

The idea is that you go to a dinner, where you get to meet everyone of the opposite sex, each for exactly 7 minutes.... After 7 minutes of quick conversation, you have to move on to the next one....

At the end of the night, you rate on your card which people you'd like to meet again. Then, if they have also listed you, you can contact each other....

This idea seems to have really caught on! When I first heard about it, I thought that maybe I should start something like this in my city.... :)

> Home delivered "insert item here".

> Food - they're too busy to cook, or were
> never taught how.
> Entertainments - save them time browsing the
> video store shelves by delivering the videos
> to their door. Assuming nothing good is on
> HBO :o)
> Dry Cleaning - pick it up and deliver it.

> Whatever. Find something they're spending
> money on already and that'll make your life
> a heck of a lot easier when getting in to
> this market.

> Keep an eye out for things which are taking
> off, and which aren't in your area yet. Then
> transplant it to your area.

> Live in a university town? Then find out
> what's taking off for university students
> and bring it to your town - or take it to a
> university town that doesn't have it yet.
> You get the idea.

That's a great way to look at it! University towns are full of singles, and full of services to cater for them.

> Researching this market should reveal all
> the opportunities you'll ever need.

Thanks Michael.... That was full of great ideas!

- Dien

I'm going to be brief.

Here are three examples of people hitting this niche and making plenty of money.

Seduction.com -- Hits the need of men who want to learn how to "pick up chicks." Crude, lewd and some of the best copywriting for a specific market I've ever seen. With seminars and product sales, I have no doubt that Ross Jeffries is making 1/2 a million a year with this.

Leil Lowdes-- Author of a number of books on "How to make anyone fall in love with you" type titles. Also does seminars. Recently I saw a full page ad for a mail order course on How to develop rapport (or something like that) in Psychology Today magazine. Those ads don't come cheap. I bet she's making a bundle.

"It's Just Lunch" dating service. Don't know too much about this company, but I've seen them advertising for quite some time now in weekly papers all over the country. (EX. LA Weekly, Austin Chronicle). You pay them and meet for lunch with 5 members of the opposite sex and 4 of the same sex (5 men, 5 women... or something like that.) I don't know how much they charge, but I'm looking into it and will report back. This is a business model that-- while service intesive (Read: Can't get away for a vacation)-- has pretty low start up costs except for marketing.

Good luck,
Adam.


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> "It's Just Lunch" dating service.
> Don't know too much about this company, but
> I've seen them advertising for quite some
> time now in weekly papers all over the
> country. (EX. LA Weekly, Austin Chronicle).
> You pay them and meet for lunch with 5
> members of the opposite sex and 4 of the
> same sex (5 men, 5 women... or something
> like that.) I don't know how much they
> charge, but I'm looking into it and will
> report back. This is a business model that--
> while service intesive (Read: Can't get away
> for a vacation)-- has pretty low start up
> costs except for marketing.
There are people providing this sort of service in Australia's major cities _ they have been profiled on the Current Affair and Today Tonight television programmes.
That doesn't mean there may not be an opportunity for Dien or someone else to do something similar.


A shrunken head is not just for Halloween

Didn't mean to imply that he couldn't. In fact, just the opposite. If others are doing it successfully, then he can, too.

That was the reason I gave the examples.

-A.

High-speed dating
A popular new service for Jewish singles provides an evening of successive instant partners. Bad match? Just wait for the bell.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Michelle Goodman
Nov. 1, 2000 | SEATTLE -- I want you to do me a favor," Stacy's mother said, pushing the newspaper clipping across the table to her daughter. "I want you to go to this."
"This" was SpeedDating, the latest Jewish dating phenomenon, in which singles meet at coffeehouses for collective blind dates -- or more specifically, to go on seven seven-minute blind dates in one evening.
Stacy's mother remains hopeful that her daughter, a 29-year-old Seattle tech professional notorious for dating non-Jewish men, will change her ways. She's so hopeful that she offered to buy her daughter a sofa -- all Stacy has to do is partake in a night of SpeedDating.
Stacy, who recently split with her latest non-Jewish boyfriend, admits that with the couch bribe as her excuse, she feels less desperate registering for Seattle's upcoming round of SpeedDating. (Stacy, who's both a head turner and a sidesplitter, wouldn't give her real name. In fact, all the SpeedDaters mentioned here asked for pseudonyms. Even for the attractive, intelligent and personable, the stigma of matchmaking still stings.)
Already a hit in 20 North American cities and spoofed on an episode of "Sex and the City," SpeedDating made its Seattle debut in October. Like Stacy, I padded my ego with a justification -- writing this article -- and signed myself up for the matchmaking extravaganza. Still licking my wounds from a nasty breakup, I was just depressed enough to believe that 49 minutes of blind dating held therapeutic promise.
I was among three dozen Jewish singles between the ages of 30 and 40 at Seattle's groundbreaking SpeedDating event. And for the record, the earth did not move. Yet since that initial evening of supersonic coupling, SpeedDating organizer Techiya Levine has received several hundred inquiries from Seattle singles, some of whom aren't even Jewish, all eager to register for this bimonthly hormonefest.
"It's like ripping off a Band-Aid, or like running into the Mini Mart," Stacy explains. "It's quick and it's painless."
The first Seattle event occurred -- where else? -- at a Starbucks. The tangle of schmoozing singles waiting for the mating marathon to begin looked inviting enough. And they didn't seem to mind the latte-sipping nondaters craning their necks over their laptops to see the freshly coifed, name-tagged folks being filmed and interviewed by the evening news.
Don't think for a second that only the bold and beautiful worked the floor. The shy and awkward made quasi-successful small talk with the bubbly and boisterous. Doctors chitchatted with dot-commers. Artisans bent the ears of accountants. And recent New York and California transplants gleaned restaurant and camping tips from veteran Seattleites (who aren't usually known for their warmth toward Manhattan or Los Angeles).
A few women did share my apprehension. But the candy-store-struck men certainly weren't complaining.
"You can't go expecting all supermodels, because that's absurd," said Phil, a 34-year-old reporter who relocated to Seattle this year. A no-nonsense, self-assured guy, he was impressed with SpeedDating's knack for "cutting through a lot of the B.S."
"I was a little worried it was going to be the parade of old boyfriends," said Leslie, a 32-year-old doctor who has lived in Seattle for eight years. Insightful and adorable, she's fond of uttering gems such as "If guys went around with little name tags that read 'Raised a Christian but Flexible,' dating would be much easier." Rather than bumping into all five Jewish guys in town she has dated, Leslie was elated to find a roomful of strangers at SpeedDating.
I was having the same thought -- until I spied one of my best friend's former boyfriends amid the minglers. Advancing to say hello, I caught him off guard, perhaps a tad sheepish at being found out. "What are you doing here?" he asked, distracting me from the more relevant question of what he was doing there.
Dutifully, I exchanged $20 for my name tag, scorecard and cheat sheet, a list of suggested questions that included "How often do you talk to your mother?" Techiya, our hostess, instructed us to sit at our respective tables and laid down the ground rules. There were 18 tables in all, with one woman and one man assigned to each. Women would hold court at their assigned table throughout the evening; men would rotate up two table numbers after every "date."
The innovation of Aish HaTorah, an international Jewish organization that aims to strengthen the Jewish community and promote Jewish marriage, SpeedDating is touted by its organizers as an alternative to the bar scene, your friends' dinner parties and the hit-or-miss Jewish personals on JDate.com.
The underlying fear among interfaith daters and nonreligious Jews is that Jewish singles groups are predominantly populated with people far more religious than they. (They go to temple even when somebody hasn't died.) So SpeedDating targets the unaffiliated Jewish population, those who mainly consider themselves Reform Jews. The occasional Conservative Jew attends, but Orthodox Jews are turned away from SpeedDating to avoid matching the highly religious with those who haven't been to temple since their bat or bar mitzvah -- which would be an exercise in futility at best. According to Techiya, the unaffiliated Jews signing up for SpeedDating range from those who date only Jewish to those who haven't but would like to try.
Nadine, 36, is a gregarious social worker who's a longtime Seattle resident, attends temple regularly, wants to raise a Jewish family and would prefer her mate be Jewish: "I just feel more comfortable with Jewish people. It's a common heritage, a common language."
My friend's ex, Josh, is a 34-year-old acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese medicine who relocated to Seattle three years ago. He has a smiling demeanor that can't help being charming, even when he gets metaphysical on you. Having rediscovered Judaism a couple of years ago, he shares Nadine's sentiments about Jewish religious practice, partnership and family. So does sofa-shopping Stacy, except for the religion part -- she describes herself as an atheist. Still, the easy familiarity among Jews (plus the parental pressure) has prompted her to rethink her penchant for non-Jewish men.
Curiously, no one names preventing Jewish assimilation -- 20,000 Jews "lost" yearly to interfaith marriage, according to Aish -- as a reason for dating Jewish.
Finding datable Jews in this town can be challenging, since Jews constitute just 3 percent of greater Seattle's population. Phil, the reporter, likes SpeedDating's odds: "To put it kind of clinically, it's a numbers game."
Back at the Jewish casino, SpeedDating maven Techiya explained that a bell would announce the start and end of each date, at which time we'd indicate on our scorecards whether our date was respectful and whether we'd like to see him or her again. If both singles circled "Yes," Techiya would give the man the woman's number. He'd then have four days to call, or he'd never SpeedDate in this town again.
We weren't allowed to talk about work, per Techiya, who wanted us to get to know the "real person" sitting across from us at the table. A good rule, though tougher than it sounds.
Before I knew it, date No. 1 was seated facing me and our fearless hostess was shouting, "Ready, set, date!" And we were off, gabbing about what we like best about Seattle: the mountains, Puget Sound, the rare occasions on which people use their turn signals, the three days of sunshine a year. Nice guy, but not my type. I circled the "No Way in Hell" option on my scorecard and awaited date No. 2.
And waited. And waited. All the men took their seats. I felt like an idiot, and certainly not a feminist, wondering where my next suitor could be. Eventually he showed up. He really liked the décor in Starbucks -- the drapes, the sofas occupied by the now-smirking onlookers. I really like swap meets, not corporate chains, and wondered where that bell was.
Each time the bell tolled and a new date arrived, I'd try to steer the conversation away from tourist attractions and snow sports toward something more interesting, like the debates, Ralph Nader, the SpeedDating concept or interfaith dating. None of my dates took the bait.
Some of my fellow SpeedDaters had better luck breaking the ice. Josh found that the question "What do you do when you get up in the morning?" cut past the superficial prattling in a jiffy. And Nadine clicked with a date over a favorite author.
There was a freebie slot on our scorecard -- for selecting someone in the room we didn't have a chance to date but whose phone number we'd kill for. Between dates I studied the bachelors scurrying about. Since all the good-looking men without nervous tics were taking seats at other tables, I applauded this wild card option.
Though I didn't especially want to spend more than seven minutes with any of my supersonic dates, I never minded them -- until a guy I'd met six months ago at a dot-com party sat down. I didn't like his abrasiveness the first time we'd met, and I hadn't had the foresight to hide my fatheaded opinion that day.
For seven eternal minutes he twiddled his thumbs and glared at me. He didn't like my innocuous request for his thoughts about the evening, and he made it known he didn't like me.
"Saved by the bell," he said with a smirk, bolting from his chair and practically knocking it over. I then recognized the beauty of the "This Person Was Incredibly Obnoxious" option on my scorecard.
Techiya reported that 17 matches were made that night, though some lucky singles got more than one date for their efforts. This is par for the course, she explained. SpeedDating's standard success rate at each event is 50 percent.
And yes, some singles met their "beshert," their soul mate, through SpeedDating. The L.A. operation has spawned four engagements since its inception in January, according to Techiya.
Comparing notes, I learned that Josh, my friend's ex, made two love connections, one with an acupuncture client of his. Phil hooked up too. And Nadine hit it off with a bookworm who never called, but another of her dates set her up with a friend of his.
All agreed that the user-friendly structure was hard to beat. With the playing field leveled, SpeedDaters had nothing to lose except an evening. "I think it was by far the best way to meet men," said Nadine.
And although Leslie, the doctor, lamented, "There were a lot of nice people there, but my knight in shining armor was not among them," she wouldn't hesitate to return for another round.
OK, so maybe I don't share my fellow SpeedDaters' enthusiasm for the concept. But when monogamous friends want to know how bad my night of SpeedDating was, I set them straight. It was fantastic, I say: Being able to walk out on a crummy date after seven minutes is a godsend.

Hi Michael:

I don't get over here as often as I like to... business has been wonderfully crazy lately.

When I saw your post, I just HAD to post a reply. I do hope some of the other members of my gender will read this post and raise a hand or two as well.

> The question was "Why?".
> One reason is Burning Bras.
> Women have been conned into believing they should go out and work.

> I say "conned" because I cannot comprehend any women who, when given the choice of long work hours or
>"honey you stay home and let me do all the hard work and provide for you and look after you",
>would choose to work.

Fact of the matter is that I LIKE to use my brain. I LIKE what I do. I LIKE knowing that I can use my brain to earn the things that I want in life. I am PROUD of the reputation that I have in my industry. And when I am able to use my brain to help another human being accomplish their goals, that feels MIGHTY GOOD!!

I have an 18 year old daughter whose IQ, like mine, is at the top of the charts. I encourage her to use her mind for more than fashion, beauty and "girl" things.

Today, my partner is a wonderful man who would not even DREAM of telling me "honey you stay home and let me do all the hard work and provide for you and look after you." He knows I would be bored out of my ever loving mind! He knows that I enjoy what I do and that (like him) I also feel a sense of accomplishment at a job well done. That's not a "guy" thing.

Yes, perhaps there are some women who would rather be "looked after." Funny thing is, I know of guys who are that way, too. Happy to let their wife bring home the bacon.

The glory of humanity is that we are all different. How boring the world would be if we were all the same.

So, in response to your comment, I would like to stand up and wave my hand and say.... Look - here is one woman that would not want to be "taken care of." That would NOT be an opportunity I'd even be interested in. Boring, boring, boring.

And you know, I really enjoy working alongside my partner. Taking coffee breaks together. Bouncing ideas off each other. It makes me feel good, and proud!

Does that make me less of a woman? I think not!
It does, perhaps, require that my partner be more of a man because his ego needs to be able to withstand the fact that I am darn good at what I do... no matter what it is that I choose to do!

> Girls... want to know what looks good on
> you? Ask a real man, don't listen to lesbian
> fashion magazine editors and poofter
> clothing designers.

Do you have a daughter, Michael? If you do, I strongly suggest that you teach her that if she wants to know what looks good on her, she should ask the face that looks back at her in the mirror. No - do not ask a fashion designer. Nor should she ask a magazine editor. Nor should she ask a man. You see, when that girl likes the face in the mirror, her beauty radiates from inside.

There is no development of self esteem by dressing for anyone else... man or woman. Seeking the "approval" of a "real man" only results in an increased need for external approval.

> Also, more people have bought into the myth
> of their own home being their biggest asset.
> To acquire this asset means money which
> means career which means schooling which
> means less time for boys.

Myth? I don't know what housing costs are where you live, but here in the Toronto area, a renter is looking at $1600 - $2,000 rent per month. That's about 19,000 - 24,000 per year in rent. If a person rents from age 20 to age 60, that's about $800,000 paid in rent. Tell me it's a myth to think I can buy a house for less than that??
Presuming, of course, that one is going to just kick off at age 60. Otherwise, keep adding up the rent. I'll take buying, thanks. Even if it's a myth to think it's a smart idea.

As always, just my two cents..

Linda


And here's where I work! : )

Hi Linda!

Ever a delight, my friend. I only wish we lived closer together so we could get together with the drink of our choice and just laugh ourselves silly for a few hours....

> When I saw your post, I just HAD to post a
> reply. I do hope some of the other members
> of my gender will read this post and raise a
> hand or two as well.

****So here is my hand...Linda you said it already so eloquently, point by point and blow by blow...I will simply add a couple "Julieisms"

> I have an 18 year old daughter whose IQ,
> like mine, is at the top of the charts. I
> encourage her to use her mind for more than
> fashion, beauty and "girl" things.

***I seem to be a "daughter specialist" having three glorious girls. They all love being "Girly-Girls" AND they all love being the best version of themselves possible, whatever that means.

After giving birth to Katherine, now 9, I completely bought into the "Me Tarzan, You Jane" scenario...which left ME completely zapped. The life I have created now is a perfect blend. I make my hours, I live my life as I plan and how it fits me and my daughters.

The day anyone decides which box suits me the best, may it be made of pine as I am placed six feet under with a contented smile on my face. I will have the knowledge that my life was well lived.

May EVERY individual, male or female, be able to make this same declaration.

As Dien said earlier, may we ALL, collectively go create and live our destiny!

With Purpose and Passion,

JULIE JORDAN SCOTT




Dare to Discover Your Passion, Decide to Live Your Destiny!