My girlfriend came over last week because she needed my help with something very important – finding a man!
She’s 61, single, very smart, hilarious, fun and gorgeous, and she has one of those magnetic personalities that makes strangers tell her their life stories within five minutes.
But where exactly does a single woman in her sixties meet an intelligent, sexy man these days if she doesn’t want to hang around pubs hoping Mr Right wanders over while she’s ordering a pinot gris?
Enter Hinge. Setting up a profile on this dating app is basically creating an advertising campaign for yourself, which feels deeply unnatural. You need six photos, answers to prompts and a few facts about yourself.
The art of the dating profile
My friend claims she doesn’t photograph well. Unfortunately, every photo she does like of herself has me standing beside her, so we chose four from her camera roll, took two new ones in my kitchen and pixelated my face out of the others, so potential suitors wouldn’t think we came as a package deal.
Then came age. She is 61. Her Hinge profile says 54.Before you judge, she has her reasons. She doesn’t want the algorithm serving her men over 65 because apparently they’re “too old” for her. To be fair, she can absolutely pass for 54.
Hinge also lets you record your voice, which I love! Maybe that’s the broadcaster in me, but I reckon you can learn a lot from hearing someone speak for 30 seconds. Their warmth, humour, confidence and, as we discovered, their accent. My friend, it turns out, is quite partial to an English one.
Let the swiping begin
Once her profile was live, we started swiping. She was admirably open-minded and didn’t immediately dismiss anyone based on looks. However, great teeth, a
nice smile and messy hair certainly helped. Messy hair! Who knew?
There were also instant red flags. Certain men’s names were immediately rejected.
(I won’t reveal those for fear of losing half our readership.) Too many fishing photos? No.
Too many golfing photos? No. By the end of the night, I realised dating in your sixties might actually be quite exciting. You know yourself better. You know what you want. Your kids are grown up. And presumably you’ve learned enough from previous relationships to recognise a red flag before you’ve wasted three years on it.
Maybe she’ll meet the love of her life. Maybe she’ll have a few hilarious dates. Maybe she’ll make some new friends. Either way, I hope she has fun.
And if you’re a smart, funny, handsome 54-year-old with great teeth and messy hair who hates golf and fishing… I know someone.
