Internet Dating: Intimacy and Social Change [Hardcover]

1. Introduction

2. Nutter Narratives and the Boundaries of Heterosexual Gender Norms Online

3. The New Norms and Etiquette of Internet Dating

4. Emotionally Exciting Novel Heterosexual Practices?

5. Chemistry

6. Older Internet Dating: Over 50 and Beyond

7. In an International Frame

8. Conclusion

Internet Dating deals primarily with the experiences of UK and Australian daters, examining their online accounts to see what kinds of narratives, norms, emotions, and chemistry shape their dating.

Internet Dating deals primarily with the experiences of UK and Australian daters, examining their online accounts to see what kinds of narratives, norms, emotions and chemistry shape their dating.

Has the emergence and growth of internet dating changed the dating landscape for the better? Most commentators, popular and academic, ask whether online dating is more efficient for individuals than offline dating. We prefer a socio-political perspective. In particular, the book illustrates the extent to which internet dating can advance gender and sexual equality. Drawing on the voices of internet daters themselves, we show that internet dating reveals how social change often arises in the unassuming, everyday and familiar.

We also pay attention to often ignored older daters and include consideration of daters in Africa, Scandinavia, South America, Asia and the Middle East. Throughout, we explore the pitfalls and pleasures of men and women daters navigating unconventional directions towards more equitable social relations.

Chris Beasley is Emerita Professor and Fellow of Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Adelaide. HlS2