Tag: dating

If you’ve ever used the dating app Tinder in Kuwait then you’re bound to have come across odd profiles which is why I found an article by a British girl in Kuwait so entertaining to read. Here is an excerpt:

It’s no revelation that dating in Kuwait can be rather tricky. I am not a fan of internet dating, I find it unnatural and a playground for creeps, but the alternatives are very limited here. Sitting in a shisha cafe twirling my hair is not my thing and, let’s face it, the type of guys who approach girls in shisha bars, Sultan Centre or the Gulf Road are mostly players. No thanks. So I gave Tinder a go — I was curious and liked the idea of being able to swipe left and never have to hear from him. Also, there is the option to be offline so people can only see you when you’re swiping — which I’d do really quickly, then turn my profile to off. After looking at the photos below, you will see why I only swiped right 5 times. Of those 5, I spoke to one for more than five minutes.

When looking at the profile photos and descriptions, one minute I’d be completely bewildered and the next laughing out loud, taking a screen shot and sending it to my bestie. It may seem mean, but some, no not some — many of the profiles are just plain weird and creepy. Is it really so hard to have a normal profile photo? Just smile? Do men really believe that by putting a photo of their erection (see above if you happened to miss it), sucking toes, a blue eyeball, a gun in your crotch, a headless photo with their wedding ring and/or wife that we’re going to swipe right? I was shocked to find a fellow teacher I work with, posing on Tinder, whilst he is married with kids. What is he thinking? He is on my Facebook posting photos of him and his wife whilst fishing on Tinder for a bit on the side. Creep. When I saw him at work, I couldn’t even say ‘good morning’ — just nodded and rushed past. I also saw one of my 14 year old students pretending to be 28. Scary.

So, I’m sharing with you just some of the strange profiles that I came across (I’ve left my colleague out even though he is clearly a douche — karma will bite his bum). To protect their identities, I have blurred out names, faces and any personal info. Kuwait is a very small bubble after all. However, it should give you a good idea of what tinder has in store for us lucky girls here in Kuwait:

Check out her article along with some screenshots of the funny profiles she’s come across on her Medium page [Here]

Last week I posted about a local blog I started reading and found fascinating called Single in the Shires. It must have been inspiring because another blog popped up this week called I Date Kuwait. While Single in the Shires is about the dating adventures of a single British girl living in Kuwait, I Date Kuwait is about the dating adventures of a single Kuwaiti girl. She just has four posts up but I think it’s going to be interesting to see the contrast between a British expat dating in Kuwait and a young Kuwaiti girl. Check it out [Here]

A friend recently asked me why I don’t write about the dating app Tinder. At first I wasn’t very sure if the local Tinder users would appreciate this extra attention, but then I thought about it again and realized a post about Tinder could actually boost it locally. So I decided to do some research and the first thing I did was google “tinder kuwait” which landed me on an extremely entertaining local blog called Single in the Shires. The blog is about the dating adventures of a single British girl living in Kuwait and since she was a Tinder user, I decided to contact her and ask her if she’d be willing to write the review instead. She nicely accepted and you can check it out below:

Swipe Right
When Mark asked me to guest blog for him I was delighted. Then I realized that I had to write about my shameful love life for the Kuwait blogosphere to digest. I hold my hands up… I am in my 30s and I’m single (audible gasp). And moving to Kuwait certainly hasn’t helped change matters. How could it? Gone are my days of meeting guys in nightclubs and bars. First date nerves are no longer steadied with a couple of wines. Dinners no longer turn in to dancing. And, for a change, I can remember every single disastrous detail the next day (not always a good idea). Plus, how on earth are you supposed to meet eligible bachelors in Kuwait – and by eligible I mean NOT the ones that follow you through Avenues, try and get your attention whilst driving dangerously or beep their horns as they drive past you when you’re trying to cross the street. Those men are a no no.

So, moving to Kuwait has meant embracing online dating – something I wasn’t a fan of in London. In fact, I’m even less of a fan now but needs must. And without match.com or mysinglefriend.co.uk there wasn’t much chance of even an internet date. Until Tinder popped up.

Tinder is an app that allows you to select your chosen target demographic (in my case: male, 32-38, within 50km) and then view their pictures. Like the look of them? Swipe right. Don’t like the look of them? Swipe left. Yes it’s shallow but it’s more fun than reading dating profiles that have been embellished beyond belief (ie the guy who said he was over 6 foot and was shorter than me on the date – and I’m 5 foot 7). The app pulls the pictures from your Facebook profile and it seems many users in Kuwait fail to review these and make any changes. Why else would there be 100s of profiles featuring men with their brides or profiles pictures that are of their children?!

You see, to some this is a dating site and to others it’s a hook up app. From talking to friends it seems men treat it as a hook up app and girls are a bit more willing to believe they’ll meet someone lovely and ride off in to the sunset to start their ‘happy ever after’. Wake up girls, you are not riding off in to the sunset with the guy that takes a selfie in the gym mirrors with his top off. That guy will always like himself just that little bit more than he likes you.

I could reel off my disastrous encounters thanks to Tinder but have chosen to protect the not-so-innocent. Plus, I don’t want to tempt fate. You see, for all my cynicism I am still hopeful that one day I’ll swipe right and meet a normal, well-adjusted guy that doesn’t want to show me the inside of his pants on Whatsapp after three messages.

So would I recommend Tinder? Well in the absence of an alternative then I suppose I would – as long as you don’t take it too seriously. Remember; online you can be whoever you want to be. Just take it all with a pinch of salt and swipe away. Who knows, you may have better luck than me.

– SiS