Man Dams…

There is a restless kind of consumer shopping for partners, as if the “right one” can be found by totting up a potential mate’s pluses and minuses until the number of pluses matches some mythical standards. -- Deepak Chopra

What is a 'man dam'? No, not a Van Damme…that’s Claude. I’m talking about ‘man dams.’ Yeah, I didn’t know either until I opened The Sunday Mail– a Brisbane newspaper - to page 22 and read there is a shortage of datable men in the city. There is a ‘man drought’ and that if you really want a man you have to go to a ‘man dam.’ These are reported as being ‘small pockets in the city where men congregate.’ Where are these ‘pockets’? Apparently ‘blue collar suburbs’ and ‘Defence Force Barracks.’ There you go. You learn something everyday. I work in a blue collar, industrial suburb and who knew I was drowning in men? As for the Defence forces – it’s that whole man in a uniform thing isn’t it?

Other man dams are to be found in the rural areas. That seems pretty obvious to me as people have been forever moving to the big cities, all over the world, to find jobs and what they believe will be better opportunities. I, personally, am in the city because the country makes me break into a cold sweat if I can’t see at least one neon sign. This would be a bad quality if I was a contestant on “The Farmer need a Wife.” Yes, that’s right, it’s a reality TV show. A bunch of Aussie women from the various cities head out bush to nab themselves a farmer.

Life is tough for men on the land with isolation and long hours, and it's even tougher dealing with a lonely heart. The Farmer Wants A Wife is offering some of Australia's most eligible farmers a chance to meet the woman of their dreams.

With the second series to be aired later in the year, we follow the story of six Australian farmers meeting new women, exploring new relationships and trying to find their bride.

The ultimate goal is finding true love just as our series one favourites, Chris and Kim did.

The Farmer Wants a Wife is a feel-good story of love and romance. This is not a competition. There's no prize money and the only winner in the end ... is love.

http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/section.aspx?sectionid=5603&sectionname=farmerwantsawife&subsectionid=75813&subsectionname=home

Now, first up let me say that there is an acknowledged shortage of women out west. That has always been the case. And, I will add that it would be bloody hard for anyone wanting to settle down and have the 2.3 kids if they could not find a partner. However, I do wonder at reality shows such as this. I don’t doubt many of the contestants want to find love and believe this may be the way but I find it sad to watch people ‘competing’ for love – and it is a competition regardless what the blurb says.

I think we can all agree that people want to be in love. They crave the whole shooting match with the thrills and spills, the breathless highs and the I-hate-him-but-love-the-jerk- lows…it’s about passion and need – hell, it sells books and movies because people want the fairytale. But I also wonder if people really get so caught up in the whole fairytale that they latch onto the first person that provides a glimpse of said fairytale. Maybe that’s why we have so many divorces. I think people marry for the whole virginal white wedding spectacular and once the bills start coming in and they wake up beside him/her every morning they think ‘crap, what have I done?’ And no, I’m not against love. I think some people do it very well and are the role models and the reasons other people want to follow suit and there’s nothing wrong with wanting the best. I just think we rush into things without thinking.

It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for anybody who asks her. -- Jane Austen

I should point out though that if you are twenty-something in Brizzie, there are heaps of men. If you are thirty or forty-something then you are screwed…or in this case not. The case was also made by a ‘thirty-something’ woman that ‘men just don’t approach us while we’re out.’ I often wonder how hard it would be for a man to go up to a woman he fancies and try to chat her up. I mean that would take some guts wouldn’t it knowing that you have a great likelihood of being shot down? I don’t think most women, me included, take that into account.


So, in Brisbane we are in a real drought where strict water restrictions apply. We can only have 4 minute showers. Now, if there is a ‘man drought’ is 4 minutes enough to immerse oneself in the 'man dam?' Am I going to find a man dam? No, I’ll await the right storm to bring him. And as for the pictures of the perfect bods on the blog – it’s all fantasy and it’s not how a man needs to be but it’s nice to look isn’t?

No, I don’t have a boyfriend. No, I don’t need a boyfriend. I am enough. And I am complete just the way I am. I choose to be single, just like I choose to not listen to people to make marriage seem like the only possible pinnacle a life can have. -- Lauren Rohrer

On the blog being red – some people like it and some don’t – one person told me its looks like a – quote – ‘a bucket of blood.’ Lord knows what goes on in their mind huh? Opinions are always good but management – that’s me – has the right to reject those that make no sense or indicate blood loss.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?