The Sunday Read: ‘Online Dating After 50 Can Be Miserable. But It’s Also Liberating.’
whatshot 26 snips
Aug 4, 2024
Dive into the world of online dating after 50, where heartbreak meets hope. Discover the journey of those re-entering the dating scene after long marriages. Explore how resilience shapes their romantic adventures, and the freedom they find in meaningful connections. Personal stories unravel the humor and challenges faced, as they navigate societal expectations and desires for intimacy. Experience a fresh perspective that celebrates love, authenticity, and the joy of companionship at any age.
29:47
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Maggie Jones's Dating Journey
Maggie Jones, after a 23-year marriage ended, felt overwhelmed and didn't consider dating.
After some time, curiosity arose, leading her to explore online dating apps like Match, Bumble, and Hinge.
insights INSIGHT
Challenges of Online Dating
Online dating presents challenges for everyone, including fake profiles and outdated photos.
Older women face additional hurdles due to limited choices and men's preference for younger women.
insights INSIGHT
Desirability Peaks
A 2018 study revealed women receive the most online attention at 18, while men's desirability peaks around 50.
Men prefer women with less education, even though women prefer men with advanced degrees.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
In this memoir, Sophia Chang shares her inspiring story of navigating the music industry as the first Asian woman in hip-hop. She recounts her work with influential groups like The Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, as well as her personal journey through marriage, motherhood, aging, desire, marginalization, and her practice of martial arts. The book is a candid and fearless account of her life and career, highlighting her audacity and resilience in pursuing her passions despite societal and cultural challenges.
Anatomy of Love
A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray
Helen Fisher
This book is a cutting-edge tour de force that traces human family life from its origins in Africa over 4 million years ago to the Internet dating sites and bedrooms of today. It covers various aspects such as natural courting ploys, the biology of adultery, love addictions, chemically-based personality styles, worldwide patterns of divorce, and how brain science can help in making and keeping happy partnerships. Fisher examines marriage and divorce in 58 societies and adultery in 42 cultures, arguing that modern patterns of love and sex echo our ancient past, and she remains optimistic about the future of relationships in the digital age.
Love After 50
How to Find It, Enjoy It, and Keep It
Francine Russo
This book provides practical advice on various aspects of dating and relationships after the age of 50. It includes guidance on recovering from emotional damage, building realistic requirements for a partner, navigating online dating, overcoming physical challenges of sex, evaluating the financial and practical results of different relationship arrangements, and dealing with adult children. The book is based on interviews with top experts and dozens of couples, and it includes the author's personal experiences and stories of real people who have formed healthy partnerships later in life.
When Maggie Jones’s marriage collapsed after 23 years, she was devastated and overwhelmed. She was in her 50s, with two jobs, two teenage daughters and one dog. She didn’t consider dating. She had no time, no emotional energy. But then a year passed. One daughter was off at college, the other increasingly independent. After several more months went by, she started to feel a sliver of curiosity about what kind of men were out there and how it would feel to date again. The last time she dated was 25 years ago, and even then, she fell into relationships mostly with guys from high school, college, parties, work. Now every man she knew was either married, too young, too old or otherwise not a good fit.
That meant online dating — the default mode not just for the young but also for people Ms. Jones’s age. Her only exposure had been watching her oldest daughter, home from college one summer, as she sat on her bed rapidly swiping through guy after guy — spending no more than a second or two on each.
Ms. Jones tells her story of online dating in later adulthood, and what she learned.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Daily 
