Check Him Out! Get a new boy toy at online ‘man market’

“It doesn’t shock anyone that women are objectified in our society. In the interest of equality of the sexes, and all in good cheer, we’ve simply reversed the roles.”

So say the team at Checkhimout.com, a online ‘man market’ (their words, not ours) where men are the ‘product’ — quite literally strung up for women to select, place in a shopping basket, take to the virtual checkout and, presumably, later take home and consume.

Empowering? Sexist? Defeating the whole object of equality? Verging on mental — or just good common sense? We’ll leave that up to you to decide.

We asked the good people at Checkhimout.com about their ‘pro-gender equality’ aims (and about why the men on their homepage look a bit upset.)

What have men said about the site? Have a lot of men signed up? Have they commented on the empowerment behind it?

As daunting as it may be for over-coveted women, the online dating experience can be a negative one for men too. Bachelors spend copious amounts of time browsing profiles and contacting potential dates but receive very few responses in return, if any. On Checkhimout.com, men do not face this constant rejection; they can be sure that the shoppers they are in contact with are truly interested in them. Our male subscribers find that really refreshing.

One of them, Michael, said: “In online dating situations, men try to be insightful and interesting, but they never have the opportunity to get viewed because women are inundated with messages. Women running the process and handling the searches give men a higher probability of actually being seen.”

45% of our subscribers are men.

Do you think all men secretly want a woman to be in charge?

I think that all men secretly would like to be chased for a change, not to have to work so hard to get a woman.

Why aren’t women in control on other dating sites?

On other dating websites, there is no filter as to who may or may not contact a woman. So they get harassed by men that they have no interest in dating. And because sifting through all these messages to find the interesting potential suitors is so time-tasking, women do not take the time to go out and search for the men that they actually want to date.

What would you say to people who call you sexist? With terms such as ‘man market’ and by describing men as ‘products’…

Let’s be honest; it doesn’t shock anyone that women are objectified in our society. In the interest of equality of the sexes, and all in good cheer, we’ve simply reversed the roles.

Would you call your company feminist?

No, we are pro gender equality.

All the men waiting to be checked out on your homepage look sad! Why’s that?

They are not sad! They are just sitting still and waiting to be picked out before they can make a move!

Do you have plans to launch a sister (or brother?) site, where men can put women in their shopping basket and check them out? If not, how come? Surely there’s a market for it working both ways?!

No, because every other dating website does that, just not explicitly. So there is no incentive for us to go into that market.

Back to the men on your homepage — they look a bit like they’ve been hung. What are the worst crimes you think men commit in the dating world?

These guys happen to be hanging nicely, but indeed a lot of men commit dating crimes! I think the biggest crime that men can commit, one which occurs often, is to let a woman believe he’s more into her than he actually is, for the sake of convenience and/or physical pleasure. It’s broken a lot of hearts!

We noticed that one of the features on the site is a game entitled Fantasy Dating, which consists of ‘competitive man shopping’ — can you tell us about that?

Fantasy Dating is not a feature of Checkhimout.com, but a partner website. The concept started with a group of girlfriends who were complaining about not dating enough, or enough of the right men, but not doing anything about it. One girl in the group suggested that instead of whining and not doing anything about it, they all take control of their dating destinies. They turned dating into a fantasy sport where points are collected for dating actions achieved.

What we love about it is that it encourages women to go for what they want and get it too! It’s a great confidence builder and is completely in sync with the Checkhimout.com philosophy. And because Checkhimout.com lets women take control, it’s the best way to score on the Fantasy Dating Game.

Checkhimout.com promises to ‘eradicates gender stereotypes in romantic relationships’ — what do you think those stereotypes are?

Men must do the hunting, chasing, picking and choosing. Meanwhile, women do the waiting, the hoping, the desperate longing. Women can’t go up to a guy and ask him out, that would make her desperate, or a tramp, or a weirdo. Men can’t possibly let women make a move on them; that’s emasculating.

How does Checkhimout.com plan to eradicate them?

By letting women know that it’s ok to go for what you want, whoever or whatever it may be, and by giving them the tools to do so. If a woman would like a shallow one night stint with a hot guy, why would that be any more despicable than a man wanting just that type of relationship? If a woman wants a meaningful romance with an eligible bachelor, why should she sell her looks to him and then hope that he might eventually fall for her personality, ultimately setting herself up for heartbreak? With Checkhimout.com, women take control of whom and how they want to date.

Checkhimout.com also eradicates gender stereotypes by allowing men to become objects of desire. We let them know that they don’t need to constantly be hunting for their next relationships with the opposite sex and set themselves up for rejection. And we give them the confidence to accept being bagged for a change!

TNS has many, many other questions for Checkhimout.com’s pro equality warriors after this conversation. We are currently awaiting their response. Updates to follow…

Originally published at https://www.thenationalstudent.com.