Abstract
In recent years, online personal dating sites have become widespread. Today they represent exceptional showcases through which to observe the ways in which women and men construct a selective representation of the Self in order to find potential partners. This mixed methods study analyzes 304 profiles of heterosexual women and men on three different dating sites in Italy. The collected data is compared with that of previous research carried out both on personal ads published in physical newspapers, and on personal online ads. The results of this study do not confirm those of the research done a few decades ago on paper personal ads, which highlighted the men’s offer of security resources, in exchange for physical attractiveness, sex and parental care by women. On the other hand, they do not even confirm the results of the research conducted in the early 2000s on online ads, which instead showed an abandonment of traditional stereotypes related to gender differences. Rather, the emerging picture is strongly ambivalent, with new and old elements interweaving with the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals and with the technical and commercial choices of the various online services.
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