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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, October 8, 2002

ABOUT WOMEN
Handy alias helps women retain mystery on nightclub scene

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By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

The guy I'm dating thought my name was Gina at first.

We were at a bar, and he overheard me and my girlfriends introducing ourselves by our fake names — Gina, Veronica, Moira and Savannah.

Choosing fake names had become part of our girls'-night-out ritual. A fictional identity could make a dull night more amusing. And on an island where it's only a matter of time before you get caught, it became something of a competitive sport to see which one of us would run into someone who might ruin our game.

Gina kind of stuck with me, except for the night in question, when I decided to confess and reveal my real name, phone number and occupation (sometimes I claim to be a musician). Amazingly, the guy called the next day. He was slightly concerned that I could answer to Gina so easily, but I consider it a skill of the single girl to keep a guy guessing.

My friends and I are by no means dating experts, but we do have years of clubbing experience. So out of interest for my girlfriends and our alter egos, a new survey on the nightclub scene caught my attention.

"He Said, She Said," an Internet survey of about 500 adults conducted this year by R&B Marketing, was the brainchild of Rodney Battles, author of the upcoming book "Night Games! A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Nightclub and Bar Scene" (Brown Books, 2002, $19.95).

The book is more comical than the author may have intended, with insights such as: "Sometimes, large women will go to a club or bar with a smaller woman, who will serve as bait. When men approach the smaller woman, the larger woman will have an opportunity to attract some attention they might not otherwise receive if they were alone." Uh, thanks, Rodney, you sound so sensitive.

Now, let me address the finer points of the survey. It found:

  • Men find a woman's classy manner and dress more appealing than her height, weight or level of intoxication.

    As evidenced by the "larger woman" scenario, I'm not sure this is true. Seems more likely that men go after "bait."

  • Women find well-dressed men more appealing than men who are extremely handsome or well-built.

    This could be true in Hawai'i only if pressing your aloha shirt means you're dressed up.

  • 55 percent of women expect men to be confident enough to approach them.

    My girlfriends and I think this number is too low. Don't all single women want someone confident enough to approach them?

  • 70 percent of women have intentionally given out the wrong telephone number.

    Wrong phone number? That's the least of it. We have all kinds of secrets.

But now that I've blown my cover, I'm going to have to reinvent myself.

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.