India has seen major transformation within relationship expectations; there has been a significant increase in individuals who utilize discreet dating sites. The extramarital app, Gleeden, now has over four million users in India, suggesting that attitudes toward marriage, intimacy, and self-satisfaction are changing.
According to reports, women represent 35% of their total membership but what stands out is the incredible growth rate of female users. In the past two years alone, the number of female users on the app has increased nearly 148%, signalling an increasing number of women willing to explore emotional or physical intimacy with another person outside the confines of their marriage, which defies traditional gender roles.
Recent reports place Bengaluru as the leading city for usage of these types of dating apps. Approximately 20% of all Indian members of Gleeden are from this city, followed by other major metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi.
As a result, Bengaluru is now referred to as the "infidelity capital" of India partially due to its urban lifestyle, high-tech and educated population, and significant number of working professionals.
Patterns within user activity also provide insight into preferences for engaging with peers through these online platforms. Users appear to be most active during lunchtime (between 12 pm - 3 pm) and late at night (between 10 pm - 12 am) which indicates that the majority of users engage at times when they have more relative privacy as well during less busy or pressured periods of the day.
A majority of Gleeden's users fall within the ages of 30 and 45; most typically fall into the married professional (e.g., doctor, teacher, lawyer) categories who are seeking companionship outside of conventional relationship types.
This increase in the use of discreet dating sites is attributed to a number of factors including disappointment with their spouse/emotional isolation, lack of ability/inability to communicate with their spouse, and a desire for thrill of seeking intimacy/emotional validation without the fear of being identified (i.e., there are fewer social ramifications associated with the infidelity).
Interestingly, the increase in the user base is not only occurring in metropolitan areas; smaller towns in India are also experiencing the same upward trend in users. This increase demonstrates that the perception and notion of relationships in urban areas will continue to influence the changing expectation of relationships and norms in semi-urban regions throughout India.
The emergence of platforms like Gleeden represent a significant shift in the way individuals are beginning to view marriage, fidelity, and their own happiness in a modern world.
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