The bare minimum Australian women expect when dating someone has been revealed, and they aren’t asking for much.
Alisha Bhojwani, 32, is a media adviser and she took to TikTok to ask other Australian women what their minimum standards are for dating.
“I really need to get some sort of benchmark on what the girlies in Australia are accepting as the bare minimum when it comes to dating,” she explained.
Alisha thinks we all need to be “transparent” about our standards regarding romance, and she shared the four things she requires.
“The first one is you have to actually ask me on a date. That does not mean hanging out. If you use the words hang out or catch up. I’m immediately icked out and turned off,” she said.
“The second is actually picking a place. If you can’t pick a place, come back to me with some suggestions, and we can talk about it.”
The third standard is that she needs her date to reconfirm on the day that the date is still happening, ideally before 2 p.m., and she’d like her date to be waiting outside the venue when she arrives.
The 32-year-old’s standards were far less about flowers and romantic gestures and far more about clear communication.
The comment section underneath her TikTok received a wide range of responses and while different women shared various bare minimums – the overriding theme was that Aussie men aren’t putting enough effort in when it comes to dating.
One woman said all she requires is for the man to organize the first date, but it can’t be at his house.
Another said all she wants is for the guy to “be super clear and obvious” that he wants to take her on a date.
One man weighed in and said he has mates who are almost 30 and have never taken a girl on a proper first date; they just ask women to “hang out.”
Someone else said the “bar is very low here” in Australia, and another said that Australia’s dating culture is in the “trenches.”
Another complained that dating here is “worse” because you don’t get wined and dined; you get asked to hang out or go for a walk.
Alisha told news.com.au that the common denominator in the responses to her question was that women wanted to be asked out properly.
“That means not using language that alludes to ‘hanging out or catching up,’ because the truth is when you’re trying to date someone you need to get to know them,” she said.
“So using language that you would with friends who you have history with and deep understanding has the ability to be misconstrued for disinterest, which results to most women feeling that men are approaching dating in a low effort manner.”
Alisha explained that she thinks communication needs to be better when it comes to dating in Australia.
“I think we could all benefit from clearer communication and transparency when it comes to dating and I can see how this would happen, especially if you’re dating online, because you don’t know the person, so you don’t feel like you owe them anything,” she said.
“Everyone’s time is as valuable as your own time so being respectful of that and upfront of what you want would help solve a lot of dating issues we see online.”
