I think it would be just fine, widening the horizons of where you can find your "one" is a total plus

I really think that It would be nice to have an Dating site for the AA members that are single looking for someone with similor issues and can understand. I feel really good about a dating site.

i think two things. one...it could be a great, safe, venue in which to meet others who understand/accept alopecia. i know that when i lost my hair, i had just started dating my now husband and i was filled with fear and embarassment...luckily he was accepting and supportive of me. i don't think that is always the case in the outside world.
on the other hand...how would you monitor the charachter of those seeking a relationship/date/friendship situation? my worries would be...that because there are so many whack jobs out in the world these days...that they may get on this site for the wrong reasons...viewing us as freaks..objects of their obsession with baldnes...who knows. there are all types out there.
i say...if you take the ultimate precautions to ensure a healthy, safe way for us to communicate that way...go for it! maybe you could gather information from match.com or those types of sites to see how they manage, filter, and protect their clients. great idea though! go for it! paula

Personally, I do not feel that Alopecia World should make any specific enhancements to the website that includes a "dating" forum. If you connect with someone on the site by "chance" then that is fine, but it should not be promoted by the website.

I dont hae a problem with it at all. The only issue I can see is the fettish people out there.

I would say that it is okay. Since everyone is entitled to love, and if they can find their love here then why shouldnt they at least get a shot try. On the other hand it kinda feels weird. Since why would they join a community of alopecians to try to find their love since they love bald ppl. That would make it a fetisch, and frankly Im not sure if that is real love. Would they still love you if your hair grows out again?
But then again we are all intelligent individuals that can decide it for our selves. If a Alopecian want a non-Alopecian off the page for a valid reason, say for example that she/he feels harrased, I firmly believe that they should be kicked out of this fantastic community.

Just some thoughts / Henrik

I don’t honestly think that our thoughts really matter as people meet and fall in love or lust just about everywhere on this planet. With the internet these days they don’t even need to meet to fall into whatever it is they fall into.

The main thing is that this site helps support people with what can be a serious psychological problem for them. As long as it is here and people support one another then that is fine. If some fall in love then that is great. Let’s just keep the site as it is though in the main as a support group and not let it deviate from its originals intent. Let the falling in love happen to those that simply fall while they are here without coming here specifically for that purpose.

Ray

Great question, Cheryl. My reply may be a little explicit for some, but I feel I need to share my recent experiences since putting my video on YouTube .

Although I knew beforehand that there are men who have what some people would call a sexual fetish about bald women and about women who shave, I was unprepared for the amount and level of this interest. I figured my video was mainly going to appeal to bald women, and I didn't think it was particularly provocative. However, a number of the people who marked it as a "favorite", and at least one who posted a comment, clearly have a sexual "thing" for bald/shaved women. I know this because out of curiosity about who was "favoriting" my video, I looked at their YouTube pages and at the other videos they've "favorited", and they are all about shaved and bald women, and sometimes nude women. (with titles like "hot shaved girl") The interest in the topic is clearly sexual.

The other telling factor is that on YouTube you can view statistics showing who is watching your video. Particularly in the first days after my video appeared, a very high percentage of the views from all countries were men - the video was clearly being rapidly shared among websites and users with this interest. In Europe, it was being viewed by 100% men; in the U.S., 80% men 20% women.

I just checked, and now, after it's been up for a couple of weeks, this has reversed in the U.S., but not in other countries. Right now it's being viewed by 30% men/70% women in the U.S., BUT 97% men/30% women in Germany, and 100% men in the U.K.! What does this tell us and what should we take from it?

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a man being sexually attracted to bald women. Everyone is free to have their own preferences. I'm not an expert on this, but there seems to be a major element of S&M to this whole bald/shaved women fascination, judging by still photos and titles from videos I've seen on the pages of some men who favorited my video - things like a bald woman wearing a constricting rubber suit and having a rubber gag in her mouth. Sorry to get graphic here, but I think we need to be aware of this.

Maybe this all is old news to many of you, but it isn't something I anticipated. If I were still dating (I'm married), I would be VERY concerned about whether this was the reason a guy was interested in me.

p.s. I meant to say "Great question Cheryl and Richard" - didn't mean to leave you out, rj.