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Most people might complain how much dating sucks, but they still do it. According to the Pew Research Center, three in 10 Americans are single, and 51% are looking for a committed relationship or casual dating.

It's natural to have some kind of an idea what person you'd like to date. You may want your values to align, maybe you'd like them to listen to the same music and like similar films as you. Others have preferences about their potential partner's looks, consciously or unconsciously.

But some demands people in the dating world can seriously veer into the absurd. Knowing and having experienced that firsthand, one person online asked others: "What's the most ridiculous dating preference you've heard of?" And people's answers perfectly illustrate the hell that is modern dating.

We also reached out to the person who started this thread, u/Urjanhai. They kindly agree to tell Bored Panda what inspired it and have a chat with us about why modern dating seems to be so difficult at the moment. Read our conversation below!

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Having an active social media presence.

Multiple people tell me that my choice not to use social media was a huge red flag, but in reality I got rid of my accounts because they were making me miserable. I got rid of my Facebook/Instagram/twitter accounts two years ago, and have been noticeably happier ever since.

agusgago , Pixabay Report

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Green Tree
Green Tree
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

LOL my partner and I are opposite and it was a huge plus to both of us that the other felt the same. No facebook et al in this house

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#2

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Not the most ridiculous, but I got a good laugh when my friend said he wanted to set his dating profile to exclude girls with small dogs that can’t breathe well.

PM_Your_Pretty_Tits , Steshka Willems Report

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#3

I have a roommate who is destined to be single forever.

His preferences and is not open to any changes.

Must be shorter than he is. Blond, Blue or Green Eyes. Virgin (and preferably never been kissed). Slim but not too muscular. enjoys doing household "duties". Full Time employment with benefits and retirement savings. No drinking alcohol, caffeine or sugary sodas. must have sense of humor and laugh at his jokes. Must want 3 children. Must be financially set and planning for the future.

He is a 46 year old (suspected Virgin) 5'6" tall, balding, pudgy, evening desk clerk at 2 star hotel, smokes shitons of weed and drinks a 12 pack of light beer daily. Has no hobbies but getting drunk and staring at things. Literally dresses and looks like a person you would not introduce your kids to and no way would you ever leave them with him.

It's sad that he doesn't see how sad he is and thinks it's normal.

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You could make a movie about this guy. A sad cringy movie that would be a cult classic decades after it was made.

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The urge to ask others about the most ridiculous dating preferences they've encountered was inspired by the Redditor's own experiences. "I presented this question to Redditors due to having encountered individuals with absolutely mind-boggling and illogical preferences and standards. I was curious to know just how far this phenomenon has gone."

Brazilian researchers have found that even in 2024, people say kindness and intelligence are the most valued traits they look for in a partner. "This is true for both men and women and across the sexual orientation spectrum – although heterosexual men do place a premium on their partner's physical attractiveness," said the study's author, Joao Francisco Goes Braga Takayanagi of the University of Sao Paulo.
#4

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had A woman I knew mentioned she was looking for a man who made “at least $500k/yr” and was also an artist type and not a workaholic. I was like I think those items are in conflict sweet thang.

mazzystardust216 , Mufid Majnun Report

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Sue Denham
Sue Denham
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, no. I think that's entirely possible as long as you don't want to throw words like "honest" and "legal" into the mix.

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#5

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I met a 49 year old man who outright refused to date any women over the age of 30.

He was single, in case you're wondering.

lavenderacid , Alexey Makhinko Report

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Brenda
Brenda
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Related to Leonardo Decaprio (however it's spelled).?

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#6

I only Date men who like to be covered in dog hair, every day of there life

Because I am always covered in dog hair.

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The most ridiculous dating preference u/Urjanhai's ever experienced was about cars. "Probably the most ridiculous preference was based on what car the man drives. I've seen countless women wanting to date a man who drives a specific brand of cars."

"[The] most ridiculous part of that is that the car brands in question were not even the fancy types like Lamborghinis, etc. No, these women wanted Volvos," the Redditor said in disbelief. "No matter how trashy the car itself was, as long as it's a Volvo, it was okay."
#7

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Obese People that refuse to date other obese people while simultaneously claiming that being larger is more sexually appealing.

blackmobius , Towfiqu barbhuiya Report

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Kristal
Kristal
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm just not attracted to obese people, even though I'm obese myself. I hate the hypocrisy and am working on my weight but, you know, healthy weight loss isn't fast

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#8

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Not dating android users.

halimdaninja , John Tekeridis Report

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#9

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Dude wanted a Japanese woman who spoke Spanish and cooked Mexican food .

Several-Assistant-51 , Los Muertos Crew Report

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Kristy Marion
Kristy Marion
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3 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Will they settle for Peruvian food? Second largest Japanese population in Sth America

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u/Urjanhai thinks that the increasingly silly demands from people in dating have to do with social media. "I believe this phenomenon is tied to social media and how impressionable people have come."

"Some people adopt their dating preferences from social media if those preferences are popular. It's like wanting to fit in with people you don't know and likely won't ever even meet in real life. Social media has warped people's perception of real-life social dynamics. In a way, they have lost a chunk of their sense of reality, which definitely is alarming," the netizen tells us.
#10

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had My friend claims to only want to date Japanese girls, despite not living in Japan or any community with a Japanese population. Furthermore, he has never even met a Japanese girl. His opinion is based solely on watching anime.

CreepyCrepesaurus , 花見 瀬田 Report

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#11

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Only dating people with a specific astrological sign or birthdate.

PhoenixPotion24 , cottonbro studio Report

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Brenda
Brenda
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seriously? Most people don't want to date those who believe in astrology.

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#12

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I work with someone who only wants to marry someone from her church. Not her faith - Her physical church of 20 people.

carolebaskins69 , Irina Iriser Report

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Zedrapazia
Zedrapazia
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh lucky you, 82 year old Herb's wife just passed away, get him!

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#13

All these "tradcon" dudes want a woman to be a virginal and demure "saving herself for marriage". HOWEVER, as soon as you start dating them, they immediately want the woman to start putting out.

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#14

I once made a rule that I would no longer date men who didn't have some type of window decor. Curtains, blinds, shades, etc. Blankets, sheets, or flags tacked up over a window didn't count.

I don't know why I consider this a sign of maturity, I just do. Maybe I was just tired of the frat boy type.

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Brenda
Brenda
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At a certain age, you expect them to have matured enough to at least make an effort to keep a decent living space. Curtains, a towel & soap in the bathroom, sheets on the bed (don't have to match), kitchen sink not loaded with dirty dishes, general cleanliness.

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#15

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Had a work colleague reject a guy because he had a desktop PC.
In hindsight, the dude dodged a bullet.

SlickWillySillyBilly , Andre Tan Report

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#16

Specific race, specific piercing, fat a*s, short curly bouncy hair, freckles, must have athletic/fit body, no social media, no Twitch/YouTuber, no guy friends but he can have girls that are friends, I can go on and on. You MUST be okay with hypocritical views/double standards for him.

I’m not making this s**t up. Dude thinking there’s some “build a b***h workshop” out there.

Edit: Thank you to the kind and generous Redditor for awarding me some 💩.

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sensing a trend in some of these. "no Twitch/YouTuber, no guy friends but he can have girls that are friends". That's some groomer shite. isolate and exploit. It's how cults work.

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#17

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I once heard someone insist their date must have the same brand of toothpaste preference. Like, seriously? It's about compatibility, not dental hygiene uniformity.

LovelyRosiePetal , Erik Mclean Report

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#18

A buddy of mine said he only wanted to date Korean girls. One of our mutual friends at college tried to set him up with her roommate, who was an exchange student from Korea. The next day she asked him if they were gonna see each other again and he said no, she didn’t fit his “standards”.

Turns out the only Korean women he wanted were Kpop idols.

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#19

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I dated a girl who full out admitted that she was dating me (a POC) to look progressive.

palinsafterbirth , JD Mason Report

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#20

I've known a couple of guys who always complained about girls not being interested in short guys, yet would never consider dating someone even slightly taller them them😅.

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Red PANda (she/they)
Red PANda (she/they)
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like dating guys taller than me, and I’m quite short so it’s never been a problem. However, I’m not opposed to dating a short guy. I try to value personality above all things.

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#21

There's this one girl I repeatedly see on dating sites so she's been on there a long time, as have I. Nothing really wrong with her looks wise, but she is in her 30s and she makes it very clear she's still a virgin.

She wants a guy who is also a virgin, doesn't watch [adult videos] and won't even entertain dating any guy that drinks or smokes even sometimes. And on top of that doesn't want some Mormon or otherwise religious/conservative guy, since she's not religious/conservative herself.

Like, lady, what planet are you on?

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Becca not Becky
Becca not Becky
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She probably grew up in a highly Mormon/religious/conservative area and liked the people but didn't want to continue in the culture. I've met a few people like that.

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#22

I once heard of a guy who abruptly ended a date because she couldn't get through a sentence without using the word "like" several times.

>!It was me.!

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#23

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I heard about someone who refused to date anyone who didn't have at least ten houseplants.

bizzonizon , Huy Phan Report

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#24

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Girl I knew only dated guys with trucks, due to masculinity. Straight up said she couldn't take a guy who drove a woman's car seriously to do a man's role in her life. Guy she wound up with was shorter than average, small and scrawny, worked an office job, and was pretty much the opposite of the big burly masculine type, but he drove a truck. I found that so, so odd. I flip cars so what I drive can change on a daily basis, I can't imagine that being a dealbreaker for someone.

PhlippinPhil , John De Leon Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Man she would hate my bike riding a*s. BTW bike riders have the best butts and killer endurance. Do what you will with this information.

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#25

Met a woman who confessed her hobby (restoring old cars) repulsed most men because "not a feminine activity".

*Au contraire*, I thought it was attractive as hell, and we had lenghty conversations where I did some researches, asked questions, listen her talk about her passion.

She ended our exchanges when I casually told her I wasn't proficient with tools and tinkering (outside computers), her justification being "a manly man knows how to use tools".

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#26

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Only dating people who dislike chocolate.

EnchantedEmber20 , Vie Studio Report

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#27

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had This is a friend of mine’s preference and I’ll say it in her own words

A tall Asian guy who has a Black guy’s physique who’s also great at dancing reggaeton and bachata.

securus02 , Ardian Lumi Report

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Shark Lady
Shark Lady
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is weirdly specific, I wonder if any of their past boyfriends have ticked all boxes

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#28

Know a girl who broke up with a guy because he didn’t read the Bible enough he read it once a day but she reads it three times a day.

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Glasofruix
Glasofruix
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You'd think those people would have that thing memorised already.

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#29

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had I once knew a woman who wouldn't date a guy because the back of his head was too flat.

Joemanji84 , Laura Oliveira Report

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#30

"Looking For A Man In Finance": 30 Ridiculous Dating Preferences People Actually Had Some girl on tiktok was talking about this guy she met who only dated women with lip filler? Because he believed that meant they had money. 😂😂😂😂.

Orangutanfarts , Alexander Krivitskiy Report

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