One of the dating forum regulars tipped me off to a new dating show called Dating in the Dark, where participants meet other singles in an attempt connect minus the use of their sight. The prsemise is simple, although so far the results have netted almost exclusively the same end result: the men were more willing to date the women they'd met in the dark than vice versa.
The concept makes me think of a book I just finished reading called Sex Comes First: 15 Ways To Save Your Relationship Without Leaving The Bedroom. In a chapter focusing on lack of intimacy in a romantic relationship, the authors discuss a study undertaken where the participants were left in an unlit room together. 90% of the people in the room went out of their way to touch someone else, and 50% hugged another person in the room. In the control group hanging out in a lit room however, none of the participants made any attempts to touch anyone else.
It also makes me think of the smell dating event that Dial put on a few weeks back that I also blogged about (see: [Smell Dating?](http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://dating.about.com/b/2009/07/20/smell-dating-dating-science-pheremones-and-speed-dating-take-a-new-leap.htm)), where the female participants were blindfolded and asked to smell the robed male singles in attendance, half of whom had showered with a new pheromone-laced body wash Dial recently released. The organizers sent me a note afterwards to inform me that the event was a huge success, with several couples wanting to date after the event, and one couple in particular that hit it off so well they went home together.
What does surprise me however are the women in the Dating In The Dark show, who aren't finding the same connection with the gents on the series as they did when they were, literally, left in the dark. Are the women on the show really that judgmental, or were there other reasons for their unwillingness? And so much for the maxim that men are more focused on looks than anything else; most of the gents profiled waited for the women at the end of the show to demonstrate their interest, but were left with no one joining them in the end.
US viewers can watch the show for free online at the ABC website for the show, [Dating In The Dark](http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://abc.go.com/primetime/datinginthedark/index).
Note: My memory didn't serve me right, and Dial is the name of the company with the new pheromone-laced body wash for men. I apologize to Dial, and to the readers looking for more information about this product.
[Dating in the Dark](http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://dating.about.com/b/2009/08/28/dating-in-the-dark.htm) originally appeared on [About.com Dating](http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://dating.about.com/) on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 23:53:32.
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