It is unfortunate, but in some online venues, women are often flooded by wildly inappropriate e-mail. This is such an important aspect of online dating (for women--men don't have this problem) that it's worth some additional commentary.
The online personals offer an abundance of men who are beyond clueless and a sprinkling of men who are dangerous. There are probably women in both categories as well, but I believe men are less put off by this aspect of online dating, so I address it from the women's point of view here.
As the saying goes, to find a prince you have to kiss a lot of frogs. But that doesn't mean you have to French kiss them!
Over time, internet dating will become more sophisticated. But right now there are far too many people who are either encouraged to act inappropriately by the anonymity of the web and their misperceptions of what is appropriate, or have no social skills in the first place. You are looking for someone who displays all the usual social niceties: who is polite, writes appropriately, and notices the non-kink aspects of your life.
If you say in your profile that you are an elementary school teacher, your hobby is playing the violin with a small group, and you like to be spanked, someone with class will notice all three of those facts. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of people who will notice only your interest in spanking, or who may not even notice that and assume that you are really interested in becoming their slave. You will almost certainly be flooded by email from clueless men. There are so many of these men online, and they are so active, often sending generic emails to every woman in the site, no matter how inappropriate, that they have earned their own classification: HNG, which stands for Horny Net Geek. Their first email to you may begin "You have found your Master. Submit to Me. . . ." All of these men are beyond redemption, and some of them are dangerous; even just saying "no" can provoke them. If someone you meet online acts in a way that is inappropriate, don't hesitate: cut him off.
That begins with the initial communication. The HNGs buy these e-mails in bulk :) and there is no need to respond to them. You can and should delete-delete-delete, while keeping an eye out for the e-mail that begins, "I admire teachers; you work so hard and are so important to our kids . . ."
I can't promise that there is a real prince out there for you. But if you don't look you will never find him, and many women have in fact found wonderful long-term relationships on the net, and by that I include the kinky online personal net. Don't let the net's permeability to losers and nuts keep you from finding someone terrific.