Just when I thought that men were about to make a comeback - with a recognized legitimate reason to exist - up pops www.greatboyfriends.com. Instead, now we have women pimping men online-for $20 a month.
Helena Oliviero writes in the Miami Herald, "[O]nly women can post -- and recommend -- eligible bachelors. Called ‘Acquisition Advisors,’ they include everything from doting mothers to co-workers to ex-girlfriends. Even ex-wives."
Men are now mere commodities, acquired online like toys on eBay. Tired with your latest boy toy? No problem, trade him in on a newer, flashier model online.
"[O]ne month free if you recommend a great boyfriend; two months free if you provide a picture of the fabulous man."
Anything to lower the per-unit cost of dumping your current loser, right?
"The website is just a couple months old, yet already boasts profiles of about 1,700 single men. More than 32,000 women are members."
The 1:20 male to female ratio amply demonstrates the desperation of these women.
"Men's appearances, selected from a scripted list, range from ‘so devilishly hot your computer may explode’ to 'my mother would call him nice looking' to ‘sort of homely but he has a dynamite personality.’"
Used car salesmen have nothing on these women.
"For ring-buying power, women can choose from a cubic zirconia (fake diamond) up to ‘a diamond as big as a Ritz cracker with a matching tiara and Mercedes 600.’ ‘It doesn't seem as shallow as how much money he makes,’ said Lisa Daily, author of Stop Getting Dumped! It certainly gets the information you want, but in a charming way.’"
So, there you have it. As long as the size of a man’s checkbook is offered in a "charming way" all is well, right? Not exactly.
Imagine the public outrage if this website was for men pimping women, that only men could post eligible bachelorettes on it, and that the women being offered were rated by the size of their breasts. How many days would it take before every feminazi group in the world descended on the website creator? How many hours would it take NOW to issue a press release condemning the website and all of its male members, demanding an immediate apology, written in fresh male blood, preferably painfully procured?
"Experts say www.greatboyfriends.com stands out from the thousands of online dating sites because the men are not completely anonymous. ‘I still believe that every guy should come with papers,’ said relationship expert Dr. Gilda Carle, a psychotherapist in New York and author of Don't Bet on the Prince -- How to Have the Man You Want by Betting on Yourself. ‘For now, it sounds like a good idea. Wouldn't it be nice to check his pedigree before we waste our time?’"
Finally, the truth comes out. Obviously, men are not to be trusted. Only a sister will give you the straight skinny on a guy, right? Life is short, there are so many men, so little time, and our biological clocks are ticking.
"Dr. Judy Kuriansky, a clinical psychologist and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Healthy Relationship, is afraid not all women may be honest. ‘The problem with this site and a lot of them is there is a lot of lying going on,’ said Kuriansky, known as ‘Dr. Judy’ on her recently ended radio advice show. ‘And you know how easy it would be to ask a friend to get a recommendation or to do it yourself.’"
Is she suggesting that some women might lie? Say it isn’t so! What about the famous sisterhood? We’re all in this together, right? Sorry, but for women, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a catfight to the death. Always has been, always will be.
"This is women to women. It's like sisterhood. . . . There's no reason for a woman to deliberately lie.''
Give me a break! Let’s all join hands around the campfire and sing Kumbaya!
Don’t tell me that this is a) more efficient, b) free enterprise in action, or c) just modern matchmaking. This is much more than that. This is the lazy way for a woman to find herself a checkbook who is willing to submit to being one for the rest of his life, but on her terms, not his. If you don’t believe me, read on.
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead writes in her new book Why There Are No Good Men Left that today in America there are three times as many women between 30 and 34 who have never married than there were in the 1970s. The following excerpt from her book tells you all you need to know about what is really happening here.
"C[hristina is] 31, slim, pretty, a younger and darker-haired Annette Bening. The daughter of a professor and an artist, she grew up in a family where books, politics, and international sabbaticals filled her early life. After attending an elite boarding school in New England, she went off to college where she got interested in women’s political issues and began to work in campaigns. In the years following college, she moved into progressively more responsible jobs as a fundraiser for Democratic women candidates and causes. At the time we met, she is working as the director of an international relations consulting group with an income in the high five figures. Yet there’s one nagging source of discontent in her otherwise contented and accomplished life. As we chat over plates of mushroom ragout in a trendy Washington restaurant, she says ruefully: ‘I’m always getting involved with Mr. Not Ready.’"
Her problem, not his.
"Christina’s last Mr. Not Ready was someone she thought she might end up marrying. They were in a relationship for three years. She followed him from the West Coast to Washington so that they could be together, and soon after they moved in together. But only a short time later, she regretted the decision. It turned out that her boyfriend needed extensive house training. Their story was Pygmalion in reverse. Instead of My Fair Lady, it was My Fair Laddie. She had to teach him, improve him, get him up to speed. It was exhausting."
Men need to be housebroken first and only a woman can do it.
"Plus, he wasn’t a very fast learner. When they first moved in together, they agreed to divide the housework equally. In the kitchen, they decided, she would cook and he would clean up. But he didn’t live up to his part of the deal. ‘He pretended to do dishes,’ she says, bristling with fresh indignation. ‘I would come into the kitchen the next morning and find dishes still sitting there in cold, greasy water.’ After three months, she had had enough of his helplessness, feigned or otherwise. She dumped him. He still called from time to time to ask for her advice. But she was sick of being his mother and mentor."
Many women are their own worst enemy, yet they blame men for their own poor choices.
"Then, to her annoyance and dismay, she found out that her Mr. Not Ready had turned into Mr. Ready. With someone else! He was ready to make commitments to his new girlfriend. Ready to follow her to another state where she had a job. Ready to give her an engagement ring. She had spent three years of her life in a relationship that she thought would lead to marriage or at least to a long-term relationship. She had trained the guy. And now her investment was paying off for someone else."
Boo hoo, woe is me, but it’s all his fault. Life’s not fair!
This is the real reason why this website is so popular. It’s not because there aren’t any good men out there, it’s because many women keep picking losers and attempting to train them to be Mr. Right, only to discover that you really can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Imagine that!
One of the website’s mottos is "Women Doing Good Deeds For Womankind" but is it all a sham, a come-on just to make a buck? Is this altruism or just sour grapes? I’ll put my money on sour grapes. Dr. Kuriansky’s fear regarding women lying is very real, as is the persistent popular fiction of easily finding a diamond in the rough that can then be carved into Mr. Right with the proper application of female wiles and persuasion.
The problem is obvious: many women are making poor choices, but refusing to take the blame for them. This is utter disregard for personal responsibility characterized by poor judgment. Yet, somehow these women still trust the judgment of other women who are also strangers? Am I missing something here? I don’t think so.
The home page of this website also includes the motto "Where Every Single Man Comes With a Woman’s Stamp Of Approval." Obviously, that’s all it takes for a lifetime of wedded bliss, huh? I don’t think so.
What do you expect for $20?
