100 Emails, 20 Dates An SF girl's systematic quest to end her singlehood

I’m too old for online dating, according to online dating sites

OKTrends, the fascinating official blog for OKCupid, recently did a post on dating preference and age. In large part, it confirmed my long-held suspicion: I joined online dating sites too late. Dudes rule me out because of my age (36). Although the male-female ratio for my age group should work in my favor, the "male fixation on youth" does not. Though I fit in a 32-year-old's allowable date range, men mostly contact women in the lower end of their allowable date range, but they also contact women much younger than that. Those 32-year-olds? They email women as young as 18 (say it with me: ew!).

The post continues to depress women in their mid-30s, until then, the author turns it all around to show why women my age are EXACTLY who younger guys should be dating. Yeah, I am squarely in the middle of the Zone of Greatness.

Why all guys should want to date me, courtesy of OKTrends.

The post goes on to analyze factors guys should care about. Oddly enough, they're also things guys with younger girlfriends often complain about. Dump those girls! Date chicks in their 30s! We're self-confident! We're happy! We not squeamish about sex! We're OK with dating dudes if it won't lead to marriage (96% of 36-year-olds are OK with it vs. 62% of 18-year-olds)!

Also, we're just as hot as those frigid, fragile 20-somethings:

Many of you are probably scoffing at the idea that many 35 year-olds are as attractive as many 25 year-olds, but there are social factors at work that you might not consider as you go through life making judgments. Most importantly: nationwide, thirtysomethings are much more likely to be married and therefore much more likely to have stopped optimizing their attractiveness. So the typical 35 year-old woman you see out in the world isn't representative of the single 35 year-olds who are still dating and looking good.

I look good! My single friends look good! Y'all don't know what you're missing. Read the complete post. It's so interesting.