A recent study was conducted to explore whether online dating allows women to behave and express themselves more freely than they would in real life. Journalistic articles have suggested that online dating is ‘empowering’ and ‘liberating’ for women. Furthermore, feminists have argued that gender is a cultural construction and that the Internet can be a space to challenge definitions of gendered identity.

Catherine Wasiuk – Does online dating allow women to behave and express themselves more freely

However, the study found that although women do experience greater freedoms online, the Internet cannot fully free women from the social constraints of traditional role expectations as relationships develop in an offline setting. This is due to social norms present in online dating environments because of anticipated offline interaction.

The study discovered that ‘winking’ or ‘becoming a fan’ of a profile was found to be a better way to attract a man’s attention although the facilities exists to contact a man directly. This outcome was unexpected and deserves further investigation.

What do you think? Have you experienced the same phenomenon? Was this outcome to be expected?