According to those playing closer attention to online dating sites and the ratios in a recent article which appeared a while back in the NYTimes - the male/female ratio is apparently close to evenly split. However, an in depth look at the more niche dating sites yielded quite varying results. In fact, many of the niche dating sites investigated were coming in with around 80% of their member base being female.

I have a theory on why this is…Though I could be wrong, I was once eyeball deep in one of those niche sites and truly believe it has to do more with the fact that women are more self conscious.

Women tend to recognize their ‘faults’ more and will purposely seek out those with similar ‘faults’ in order to find support and establish a comfort zone of sorts.

Just to play with an example here - I’ve got a close friend that many tease and call “the cat lady” because she has several pet cats. And since ‘man’s best friend’ is typically the dog, many people naturally assume that most men are not cat people. So it makes more sense that my friend explore a niche dating site to seek out only those men who are cat people too. Right?

Niche dating sites are a great way to avoid having uncomfortable talks, sticky situations and to even spare hurt feelings. Many women [and men] who are self conscious about their weight may flock to the **BBW dating sites**, those with **sexually transmitted infections** can flock to dating sites that allow them to avoid having to disclose very personal information and those with **certain living situations** can find those who are more compatible. It just makes sense to cut to the chase and get down to business with only the pool of likely prospects.

Tags: dating, niche dating, online personals