A singles' event is an activity or program made available specifically to the romantically unattached, often with the underlying or explicit purpose of fostering dating or relationships among attendees.
[11] Dating via religious-sponsored singles events has been criticized for fostering invasion of daters' privacy and undue expectations.
[12] Sex ratios of singles events have been criticized, with many either having too many women or too many men depending on location or targeted race, age, and income groups.
[12] Singles events, including those organized by religious organizations, have been criticized for frequently being meet/meat markets[13][14]—places where attendees are rapidly sizing up members of the opposite sex with objectifying criteria, such as attractiveness, wealth, and fashion sense, before taking the time to get to know attendees on a deeper level.
[15] By the 1970s, singles events had developed a reputation as a "ritual of lies and mistrust", replete with men in search of casual sex, cold and unfriendly women, and frequent misunderstandings.