In the dating world, women are often subjected to many judgements because of the kind of guys they want to be with. While “women love bad boys” or “women always choose rich guys” is common, the world is full of advice from young and old people.
With this in mind, Indian dating app QuackQuack conducted a survey with 7,615 female users from Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities, aged between 22 and 35 to understand what clicks for women while dating and what makes them say “Nope”. Women from diverse professional backgrounds — including IT, healthcare, sales and marketing, social media content creation, administration, finance, academia among others were a part of his survey.
Ravi Mittal, the app`s founder and CEO, commented, “I think, for a very long time, there have been several misconceptions about what women like and don`t, and women-related dating advice is typically built around those ideas and half-truths. This study should shine much-needed light on the reality. It`s about time people throw away those age-old notions and start dating like decent humans.”
Bad boys take the girl, or do they?
Everyone has heard of the “women fall for bad boys” cliche, but 4 in 6 women between 25 and 35 say that it couldn`t be farther from the truth. According to them, the narrative may hold up for teenagers who are generally not emotionally mature enough to understand the difference between toxic and healthy relationships; but when the topic is adult women, they know better. Most are actively turned off by hot-and-cold, indifferent behaviour. Around 28 per cent of the respondents also commented that a myth like this is truly damaging, as it has encouraged several young men to take up the personality in question and intentionally mistreat their dates. They believe such misconceptions are the reason for so many toxic trends.
Tall, dark, and… nope
Everyone thinks tall, attractive men have a better chance at scoring matches. While that might be the case for some (23 per cent), the overwhelming number (49 per cent) of women who said physical appearance barely holds weight in serious dating crushed this myth once and for all. The survey results show women find it cringe when men list their height and other physical attributes in their bio. Kindness, emotional intelligence, personality, and effort topped the list of deal-makers, leaving tall, dark, and handsome at the very end. Sunita (32) from Chennai said, “Yes, you are tall. You might be able to reach the top shelf with just that, but not my heart. I can understand when men flaunt a good physique; that`s hard work. But height, color, face, none of that is your doing. It`s genetics. And personality will always trump looks for me.”
“Money speaks louder”, says who?
36 per cent of women from Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities said money is equivalent to stability, but money itself has nothing to do with finding true love. In fact, these women stated that flashy displays of wealth are anything but attractive; the list included profile pictures with luxury cars, name-dropping expensive brands, and looking down upon people. Nikita, a 23-year-old research scholar, said, “I once matched with a guy who had “Rolex collector” in his bio. He had generational wealth and did nothing to deserve those costly watches. I should`ve known it wouldn`t end well.” Busting this sexist belief, 3 in 4 women said they prefer an ambitious and honest man who can build a secure future for themselves over a rich brat.
Being eager is a turn-off?
According to 41 per cent of women over 30 years of age, the most outdated myth is that women don`t like men who are too eager. “Don`t double text,” “Don`t reply right away,” and “Wait at least three days to reach out after a date” were all debunked as common misconceptions. The study data suggests women love men who show a decent amount of eagerness; timely replies, texting after a date, and even double texting are considered attractive and `cute.`
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