You've Got To Get Yourself a Male Harem

... sez some old edition of Her World that I was reading at the hairdressers yesterday, after someone insidiously swiped the more interesting In-Style magazine that I had been reading.

The article basically said there was absolutely nothing wrong with a woman dating about 7 to 10 men at the same time, so long as she is single and free-to-date.

There's also a saying that I read in a book by Marian Keyes - The best way to get over a man is to get under another!

That's true what. If you're sleeping with someone else, then you really don't have time to think about the guy that just dumped your ass. Makes sense, although practically speaking it is not advisable to do this with all 7 to 10 men that one is currently dating.

I finished the article and was slightly dissatisfied. It was clearly sanitized. It said what should have been said about setting up a male harem, but self-censored out the best bits. Allow me to finish the article properly in my own way.

Rambling Not Properly Sentence Structured Criteria for a Proper Male Harem

1. It's all based on need/ want. What do you need or want in A Good Man?

2. Ok. He has to be good looking, good body, witty and funny and rich.

3. But if a man could fill all these criteria at the same time, he would already be snapped up what. So obviously you have to look for one that no one has spotted, probably because all or some of these qualities need to be coaxed out.

4. You begin by finding a number of different guys who have maybe two or even one of the qualities that you want.

5. So maybe out of 10, 2 are cute, 3 have fantastic bods, 3 are witty and funny (these are easier to find in Singapore) and 2 are rich.

6. After going out with each one a few times, you'd probably know which you'd like to continue seeing, whether casually or seriously. You can give appropriate excuses to the rest that you want to be "just friends". Or "just sex partners". Usually the ones with a good bod but no personality or no ability to commit would fall within the latter category.

7. If you have shortlisted the harem, and you still have more than 2, then you're obviously not too attached to any of them. Signs that you're not ready to settle down, or that they're great, but none of them is The Right One.

8. Refill the harem. Start over, until you find the right man for you. Or you can just carry on dating casually. After about 6 months of this, I guarantee you'll know exactly the kind of guy that you're looking for, even if you haven't found him yet. You'll also be sick of "date food", i.e. when you eat pretty good food for lunches and dinners, but can't really concentrate on the food because you're concentrating on the conversation and the strange new person in front of you.

K, this entry is for you.

My next entry, if I'm up to it, will be about risk factors associated with harem dating. [I'm not going to talk about how people will start saying you're a slut, etc. - that's not a risk factor, it's a given because you can't stop people from talking regardless]