The newest trends in dating

Friends with benefits
In the hilarious comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, roommates Zack and Miri are the best of mates. Yet considering they're both broke, their water, plumbing and electricity is turned off and they're left with nothing but candlelight and canned food. After a video of Miri's underwear (taken by a teenager who spotted her bending over) makes the rounds on Youtube, Zack comes up with the perfect plan for them to make some cash: to make a porno of course. So the two hire some crew, gather some amateur stars and agree that they will star together in the film as long the sex doesn't ruin their friendship ...

No such luck.

While many friends fear that a little horizontal hanky panky will mean the kiss of death for their friendship, they do it anyway. And why not? After all, in this climate of being perpetually single and engaging in too much casual sex to keep tabs, why not simply do it with a mate? There's no awkward first date, no waiting for a follow-up phone call and you already know their history of diseases. Plus it puts an end to your days of trawling through Facebook in order to find your perfect match. "Who gives a toss if it ruins the friendship?" many surmise. "At least I'll get laid!"

So the friendship morphs from DVDs and popcorn on a Sunday night to late-night hanky panky during the week, or in your lunch break. And suddenly the perks of your best friend are outweighing those of any date you might go on. True, it stops you from meeting "the one" (as you're way to busy getting your rocks off with your mate), and yes, at one point or another, the inevitable will happen and one friend will fall in love with the other. But when the aim of the game is to satiate one's appetite right here, right now, what's not to love?

Dating a married man
Earlier this year, when Channel Ten called upon me to comment on why women date married men, the Tiger Woods saga hadn't even come to light! But it was Sienna Miller who propelled the subject into the spotlight after it was discovered she was frolicking topless on a yacht with a very married Balthazar Getty, passionately kissing him as his poor wife watched on through the tabloid coverage.

"Why do women pursue married men?" the reporter asked me as I sat in the studio ready to talk about the topic. Well, there are a number of factors, most tellingly the one that says the "other woman" is a commitment-phobe herself and therefore dating a married dude means there's never going to be pressure to commit to him. Ever. The flip side of the coin is that if she falls madly in love with the "challenge" of having to pursue a taken man, sadly she'll believe him when he says he's going to leave his wife to spend a lifetime with her.

"He's committed before," she tells herself. "Surely he won't have any trouble committing to me?"
Think again. A study was then released that was carried out by Oklahoma State University, which likened single women to certain species of "mate-poaching" birds and fish. The researchers hypothesised that single women might be more drawn to attached men because these men have been "prescreened' by other women.

They've already been preapproved by someone else, so it saves all the hard work of her having to do it all over again.The message? Coupled-up ladies, hold on to your men with all your might.

Younger men are back in vogue
First Demi Moore set the trend by nabbing a man 15 years her junior in the form of spunky actor/producer Ashton Kutcher. Then a slew of stars followed suit, the younger-man-buzz finally reaching a 50-year-old Madonna who began dating 22-year-old Brazilian model Jesus Luz. While the world gawked and gaped at the sight of this awry love affair, my girlfriend S has recently nabbed herself a much younger man and says things couldn't get any better.

"He's a demon in the sack, doesn't pressure me for commitment and buys me flowers because he feels like it. What more could a girl want?" Of course he does still live at home with him mum, and drives a scooter ...

The rise of "Heavage" (male cleavage)
Yep, of all the strange man-trends this year, the one that caught my eye was something that I'm still in two minds about. I'm talking about "heavage", a male trend that The New York Times describes as a "dubious portmanteau for male cleavage - an exposed (and often buffed) chest".

While I often lament that deep V-neck Ts showing a little too much chest hair for comfort sit top of the list of fashion faux pas, if the 2009 fashion runways are anything to go by (and personally I don't think they are), then male décolletage is all the rage.

But gents, don't think that you can sport any old sort of '70s-style carpet hair peaking through your unbuttoned designer shirt. Oh no. Chests nowadays need to be waxed, oiled, preened and buffed to perfection.

Then there's the question of how much he-vage a man should sport. While the notion is still under debate, I think I share many a female's sentiment when I say that perhaps man-cleavage is best left out of the club and for the bedroom only ...