Workshop 4 – Menu Driven Identities

Focusing on the Lavalife dating site:

Interestingly the homepage shows “female seeking male/ age 25-34 /for casual dating”.

Arguably this reinforces the traditional heterosexual relationship, as the site does not immediately advertise homosexual relationships, thus immediately projevting a normalised image of heterosexual relationships. Additionally the option of “For:” is listed as “casual dating” thus is this website encouraging non-committed encounters between individuals. There is not an option of marriage; would such an option be considered too serious? Is there a need to be casual and relaxed, just looking for fun in order to be successful on such websites? There exists a stereotype that men seek non-committed causal fun whereas women are in favour of committed serious relationships thus are such sites geared towards the need s of men? In terms of the age bracket shown on the homepage (25-34) it could be argued that the site is implying that by this age one should be seeking a partner, again possibly reaffirming the norms of a man and woman creating a stable family unit once into the age of maturity (i.e. 30ish).

I typed in female searching for male 18-24 years and then continued to search each 3 categories of “casual dating, a relationship and an intimate encounter”. The same page of results emerged for each category. This raised many questions for me. Is the site using the information of members wrongly and entering their details into each category or are those members simply seeking any type of relationship? Alternatively when one signs up is the “looking for” option still available or is one immediately available in all categories?

The initial information box shows “age, location, status and interested in” (in terms of sexual preferences). Thus are such details the most important to the general public? All details seem optional as some refuse to detail religion and other information which highlights how one is permitted to be whoever they choose. There is no compulsion to detail every aspect of one’s life. I found it interesting that one of the first pieces of information is sexual preferences titled “interested in”. Thus is one of the most important things when looking for a new partner their sexual preferences? If one does not list much in terms of preferred activities, is this viewed negatively? If one lists a lot (i.e. “threesomes, fetishes, swinging/swapping”) will they receive more attention as they are appear more experimental? Is there a need to exaggerate one’s choices and appear open-minded in terms of sexual preferences in order to attract a wide selection of people? As with most types of menu identities one can opt to be whoever they choose, detailing and omitting whatever interests they like.