Friendship Sites Enable Women to Make New Friends

Since online dating services are a proven way for women (and men) to find romance, why not apply the same matchmaking principles to friendship? Opportunities for women to make new friends are now just a mouse click away. Following in the footsteps of internet dating, websites designed to foster real-world female friendships are on the rise. Mommy Sites and Friendship Millions of women already flock to mommy sites that create community between expectant and new mothers, and the many niche motherhood sites for working moms, stay-at-home moms, even entrepreneurial moms attest to their success at establishing meaningful online relationships. But what if you want to meet other women face-to-face and form friendships in your own community? What if moving or marriage has changed your circumstances, and youre looking for new connections and new girlfriends? Wouldnt it be nice if a website facilitated those meetings the same way dating sites do? More Meet Online If youre skeptical of the idea of internet friendship sites, consider this. A 2015 Pew Research Center poll online survey found that 15% of American adults have used an online dating site. 27% of young adults (18 to 24 years old) and 12% of adults aged 55 to 64 years old report that they have used online dating. Nearly 60% of college students say they know someone who uses online dating, and 46% say they know someone who has entered into a long-term relationship. If the internet has become a valuable tool in forming a sexual connection, couldnt it establish a social connection as well? Matchmaking Girlfriends Thats the concept Canadian entrepreneur Amanda Blain banked on when she launched the website Girlfriend Social, a place where women of all ages and backgrounds can go to talk, share, and find new women friends. One of the largest social networking sites exclusively for women 18 and older, Girlfriend Social (GFS) enables users to seek out and connect with like-minded women in hundreds of cities and communities across the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Although existing sites such as Girlfriendology and Meetup also offer opportunities for women to get together based on geographic location, Blain explained in an interview what makes GFS distinctly different: Other social networks are designed to deal with business, dating, or connecting with people you already know. Very few specialize in connecting new friends or helping you locate other people with similar hobbies. Girlfriend Social is designed purely for women to socially meet new friends and is the only free social network that allows women to create complete profiles, match with friends, chat with others, discuss hot topics, and to meet other women at live events, face-to-face. The M Stage Blain came up with the idea following a move to a new city; at her new job, her co-workers were mostly male. She soon realized the obstacles to a friendship that women face today are vastly different from those our mothers encountered. Many things have changed including the expectations women put on themselves. Many are working, have children, and find themselves trying to juggle work and family life. This isn’t as easy as it was a generation ago. Shes noticed that many women seek out new friends once they enter the M stage (moving, marriage, or motherhood) because those life transitions can alter, strain, and even sever existing friendships: Many women who go through these experiences find that their circle of friends change. Sometimes the friends you have aren’t calling you anymore, you’re not calling them, or you find your priorities have changed. Adding some new people to your life can help you through these transitions. Making the Jump Older women, in particular, find it hard to meet new people after spending years in the same social circle. The demands of career and family life leave little time to step outside the ordinary routine, meet new people, and then go from there. As Blaine notes: Even if you take new classes, go for gym workouts, or start new hobbies, it’s still difficult to make that jump from acquaintance to friendship with the people you meet. Women who do not have a significant other in their lives encounter additional friendship challenges. Whether they are alone by choice, divorce, or death of a spouse, single women often find themselves out of sync with married friends who socialize as couples. Like reentering the dating scene, trying to establish new friendships at this stage can be intimidating. All these women would just like to connect with new women, Girlfriend Socials founder Amanda Blain says, but they aren’t sure how to go about it. Easy and Safe Without controls or means of regulating its users, online community-based bulletin boards are a hit-or-miss option for meeting people the old-fashioned way. In comparison, a membership-based internet friendship site makes it easy and safe for women to reach out to each other and search for friends who would be most compatible. Safety is a major concern for Blain and Girlfriend Social. Although her site gives women opportunities to share personal details (helpful in matching new friends), Blain leaves it up to each participant to decide how much to reveal about herself. Members fill out a profile where they provide as much information about themselves as they are comfortable with. Its a detailed application that matches women based on everything from sports to hobbies to movies, music, and books.  With a few simple clicks, you can match with other women in your local area who have kids the same age as yours or read the same authors as you do.  The matching feature is a quick way to find women who have similar interests. A Friend Who Gets Her Whereas mommy sites cater to women with young children, GFS includes women of all ages and stages of life. Blain counts among GFS members 75-year-old grandmothers looking to play cards with others, and 22-year-old students looking to get out for a night of dancing, along with new moms. Some women are looking for specific friendships based on mutual interests. Blain feels that GFS and other girlfriend sites are not only long overdue but necessary because of the way women bond, a process thats a bit more complex for women than in males. The friendship instinct can be found in both genders, Blain says, but to a certain extent, I think men find themselves in situations where it’s easier to make new friends. A man can go to a local sports bar, find another guy cheering for the same team, and the next thing you know hes sitting next to the other guy, having a drink and getting invited to a barbecue. Sometimes a man is invited to go golfing with a new group and by the time he’s done playing he’s friends with every guy in the group. With women, I find getting into similar situations, or into other women’s social circles isn’t quite as easy.   Where Women Are Nurtured In the end, its not rocket science; its about making new friends. Blain explains, My goal was simple: build a safe, fun, and drama-free network where women of all ages and backgrounds are able to connect, participate in some new events, and come together to learn and share their unique life experiences. I built a community where the true nature of what it means to be a woman is nurtured.

Talking To Children About Race Essay - 860 Words

Sometimes you assume that children do not comprehend race or class problems. But we can never be certain of what outside issues they are going to be faced with. According to this article, they think that talking to your children about racism in Kindergarten might be the right time because that way it will prevent them from issues they might be face later on in their lives. It’s never too early to explain to them that other people might act different towards them because they’re being racist. You don’t want your child to feel like they’re worthless or harmed just like Marley and her experience during recess. She had no idea this was going to happen because fact her school is diverse, but the majority of students are still white. First of†¦show more content†¦Not everybody is discriminated or racist, but if we want to prevent this form happening more and more we need to educated our youth. Discrimination in a school environment is common and not jus t with children, but it can also happen with teachers and students. Teachers treating students different because they don’t look like them or maybe because they believe that minorities don’t try hard in class why even bother giving them more attention. Therefore, they focus more on their own race. Sometimes you assume that children do not comprehend race or class problems. But we can never be certain of what outside issues they are going to be faced with. According to this article, they think that talking to your children about racism in Kindergarten might be the right time because that way it will prevent them from issues they might be face later on in their lives. It’s never too early to explain to them that other people might act different towards them because they’re being racist. You don’t want your child to feel like they’re worthless or harmed just like Marley and her experience during recess. She had no idea this was going to happen because fact her school is diverse, but the majority of students are still white. First of all, Marley was just being a normal little girl playingShow MoreRelatedRosa Parks : A Symbol Of The Nonviolent Protest Advocated By The Civil Rights Movement1393 Words   |  6 Pagesbecame a symbol of the nonviolent prote st advocated by the Civil Rights movement when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama† (Hahn N.p). Before these actions of hers, African-Americans did not think about standing up for themselves and their rights. However, Rosa Parks encouraged blacks to help change the direction of racial relations in America as well. Before, African-Americans were considered inferior to whites, meaning that they were lower inRead MoreBoy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas presents ideas about World War 2 and the holocaust. 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Ion Monologue from the play by Euripides Essay Example For Students

Ion Monologue from the play by Euripides Essay A monologue from the play by Euripides NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from The Plays of Euripides in English, vol. ii. Trans. Shelley Dean Milman. London: J.M. Dent Sons, 1922. ION: Things at a distance wear not the same semblance As when on them we fix a closer view. I certainly with gratitude embrace My better fortunes, having found in you A father. But whence rose my anxious thoughts Now hear: in Athens, I am told, a native Is deemed a glorious name, not so the race Of aliens. I its gates shall enter laden With these two evils; from a foreign sire Descended, and myself a spurious child. Branded with this reproach, doomed to continue In base obscurity, I shall be called A man of no account: but if intruding Into the highest stations in the city, I aim at being great, I shall incur Hate from the vulgar, for superior power Is to the people odious; but the friends Of virtue, they whose elevated souls With real wisdom are endued, observe A modest silence, nor with eager haste Rush into public business; such as these Will laugh and brand me with an idiot\s name, For not remaining quiet in a land Which with tumultuous outrages abounds. Again, will those of a distinguished rank Who at the helm preside, when I attempt To raise myself to honour, be most wary How on an alien they their votes confer, For thus, my sire, \tis ever wont to be; They who possess authority and rank Loathe their competitors. But when I come, Unwelcome stranger, to a foreign house And to the childless matronpartner once In your calamity, of all her hopes Now reftwith bitter anguish will she feel In private this misfortune: by what means Can I escape her hatred, at your footstool When I am seated, but she, still remaining A childless consort, with malignant eyes The object of your tenderness beholds? Then or, betraying me, will you regard Your wife: or by th\ esteem for me exprest, A dire confusion in your palace cause. For men, by female subtlety, how oft Have poisons been invented to destroy; Yet is my pity to your consort due, Childless and hastening to the vale of years; Sprung from heroic sires she ill deserves To pine through want of issue. But the face Of empire whom we foolishly commend Is fair indeed, though in her mansions Grief Hath fixed her loathed abode. For who is happy, Who fortunate, when his whole life is spent In circumspection and in anxious fears? Rather would I in an ignoble state Live blest, than be a monarch who delights In evil friends, and hates the good, still fearing The stroke of death. Perhaps you will reply That gold can all these obstacles surmount, And to grow rich is sweet. I would not hear Tumultuous sounds, or grievous toils endure, Because these hands my treasures still retain. May I possess an humbler rank exempt From sorrow! O my sire, let me describe The blessings I have here enjoyed; first ease, To man most grateful; by the busy crowd I seldom was molested, from my path No villain drove me: not to be endured Is this, when we to base competitors Are forced to yield pre-eminence. I prayed Fervently to the gods, or ministered To mortals, and with those who did rejoice I never grieved. Some strangers I dismissed, But others came. Hence a new object still Did I remain, and each new votary please. What men are bound to wish for, even they Who with reluctance practise what they ought, The laws conspired to aid my natural bent, And in the sight of Phoebus made me just. These things maturely weighing in my breast, I deem my situation here exceeds What Athens can bestow. Allow me then The privilege of living to myself: For \tis an equal blessing, or to taste The splendid gifts of fortune with delight, Or in an humbler station rest content. .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .postImageUrl , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:hover , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:visited , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:active { border:0!important; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:active , .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8 .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub65d58313efe557fa8d23bd9fb31d1c8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: What role will poetry play in Essay

The Ballad of Reading Gaol free essay sample

The Ballad of Reading Gaol was written after his release and in France, in 1897, though it was published in 1898. His works during this exile were published under the name Sebastian Melmouth. The poem is written in memory of C. T. W. who died in Reading prison in July 1896 and it traces the feelings of an imprisoned man towards a fellow inmate who is to be hanged. They are like two doomed ships that pass in storm, and Wilde creates a solemn tone in his rhyme made sad and familiar by certain repeated phrases each man kills the thing he loves, the little tent of blue/ Which prisoners call the sky. † The narrator’s emotions are filtered through an uncertainty about the law that has condemned them although he is certain that they are joined together in sin. There is a longing for the outside, innocence and crucially beauty, the last of which is undermined in the latrine-like cells. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ballad of Reading Gaol or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The poem seems to offer some limited comfort in the possibility of the thief’s entrance to Paradise. It is a work of startling contrasts between light and shade, drawn together with a keen eye and a sense of the beauty in sadness itself. The poem begins with the aftermath of a murder. A man has just killed the woman he loved in bed. While never stated whether he and the woman were married, it later becomes clear, that it doesnt matter. The reader is whisked through his trial, and then reads of his travails while in the Reading Gaol (English word for jail). Following is the repetitious verse which is, in the end, the final theme of the poem: â€Å"Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword! † Most would view this theme that every man kills the things he loves, as being a cynical view held by Wilde. However, Wilde states this as a more general occurrence, and even states outright, that the killing may be slow, and over a life time, rather than, what most of us would call, murder. Hes making a more universal statement; that we cant help but kill the ones we love, if for no other reason, than just by loving them. I think Wilde meant to bring attention to the simple fact that we change everything we come into contact with. That includes the people in our lives. We change them, and so while we do not literally kill them, we arguably end up killing what we originally loved about them. That, after all, is why so many relationships (and friendships) eventually come to an end. If we cannot keep finding new things to love about people, or love the changes in them, love dies. It flashes the incidents, so many of them, where people have actually, physically and not metaphorically, killed the objects of their love. Mans nature to possess and cling to the objects of love turns him so selfish that he turn can turn barbaric and brutal. Oscar Wildes ballad consists of 109 stanzas grouped into six parts, indicated by numbers. The poem starts off with Part I, consisting of 16 stanzas, which tells of a prisoner who murdered the woman he loved and was sentenced to death for that crime. There is a subdivison after the first six stanzas in which Part Ia only focuses on the prisoner concerned; while Part Ib, on the other hand, takes a far wider perspective, reflecting about men in general, who all kill the thing they love but who do not all have to die. A description about the horrible conditions of prison rounds off that part. Part II consists of 13 verses and is built up similarly to Part I. The first six stanzas, Part IIa, come back to the condemned man; the remaining seven verses, Part IIb, are focusing on a larger group, in this case the whole of the prisoners and their life-and-death fears. The fate hanging over the condemned man seems to be a threat to all of them. Additionally, the life outside, where free persons live, love and dance, is contrasted to the life inside the prison walls where prisoners sit out their sentence indifferently and pass each other without signing or speaking. Part III is the longest one with 37 stanzas. Part IIIa, the first twelve verses, describes how the prisoners see the condemned man for the last time noting the yellow hole (Wilde, 9), the grave which is already waiting for the corpse of the man. Part IIIb, consisting of only six stanzas, focuses on the evening and gradual fall of the night. The whole section climaxes in the 19 verses of Part IIIc with the fellow prisoners complete identification with Wooldridge during the night preceding his execution. In this night of erotic horrors (Wilde, 12) the inmates have terrible dreams as if they themselves had been condemned to death. Here, for the first time, the reader can feel some of the common humanity, of the solidarity of the inmates, which Wilde experienced in prison. Part IIIc closes with a vision of the execution. Part IV, with 23 verses, shows in detail how the dead mans punishment is extended even after death. Part IVa, consisting of six stanzas, features the mans fellow prisoners on the next morning who are united by now looking themselves so wistfully (Wilde, 34 ), a feature by which in Part Ia only Wooldridge was characterized. Part IVb, two verses, is a short reference to the last night in Part IIIc and is opposed by Part IVc which focuses on the warders and the grave of burning lime. In the last 12 stanzas making up Part IVd, the corpse is buried in a great hurry without a final prayer or a cross to mark the place. The destruction of the prisoner, continuing even after his death, clearly shows the inhumanity of man to man. Part V is concerned with the abstract problem of collective human and social guilt and starts off with a critic remark concerning incarceration. In the first four stanzas, Part Va, the image of the ideal and united community of prisoners is counter posed with the recognition that real life can only happen outside and that the social goal of rehabilitation with respect to the inmates is a joke (Wilde, 37). Prison only intensifies the inmates isolation and aggression, as Part Vb, and Part Vc, each consisting of four verses, show. Part Vd, with its two stanzas, and Part Ve, with its three stanzas, introduce the religious dimension of execution and criticize the power some m[e]n in red (Wilde, 43) have over the life and death of people. Part VI, finally, concludes the ballad in its three verses by once more taking up the theme that each man kills the thing he loves (Wilde, 54), repeating almost word for word the relevant verse in Part Ib. It combines the narrative base of the poem, the execution of the prisoner, and its philosophical center, the problem of guilt and the responsibility.