How Gay Men Justify Racism Against Grindr – Illinoisnewstoday.com
In gay dating apps like Grindr, many users have profiles that include phrases such as “don’t date black men” or “argue that they aren’t attracted to Latino Americans.” They may also list the races they accept: “Whites / Asians / Latins only”.
This language is so popular in apps that Grindr’s Douchebags You can also use hashtags like # grindrwhileblack to find countless examples of abusive words that men use against people of color.
After 2015 I’ve been studying LGBTQ culture and gay lifeAnd much of that time has been spent trying to unravel and understand the tensions and prejudices of gay culture.
in the meantime Social scientist I’ve been investigating racism in online dating apps, but most of this work focuses on highlighting the topic. I also wrote..
I’m not just trying to explain the problem, I’m trying to better understand why some gay men behave this way. From 2015 to 2019, I interviewed gay men in the Midwest and West Coast regions of the United States. Part of that fieldwork focused on understanding the role Grindr plays in LGBTQ life.
Part of that project (currently under review in peer-reviewed top social science journals) is exploring ways gay men can streamline sexual racism and discrimination in Grindr.
“It’s just a taste”
The gay men I was involved with tended to do one of two justifications.
The most common was simply to describe their behavior as a “preference.” When asked why he stated his racial preference, one participant I interviewed said, “I don’t know. I don’t like Latin Americans or black guys.” said.
The user also explained that he had purchased a paid version of the app that could exclude Latin Americans and black men. His image of his ideal partner was so fixed that he wanted to be “single” rather than with a black or Latino man. (#BLM protests in response to George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Grindr eliminated ethnic filters.. )
Sociologist I was interested for a long time With a general taste concept. Preference, whether it’s your favorite food or the people we’re attracted to, can look natural or unique. But they are actually shaped by greater structural forces, such as the media we consume, the people we know, and the experience we have. In my study, many of the respondents seemed to never think twice about the cause of their taste. When faced, they simply became defensive.
“It wasn’t my intention to cause pain,” another user explained. “My taste may offend others … [however,] Unlike those who have problems with my tastes, I am not satisfied with being mean to others. “
Another way I’ve observed some gay men justifying their discrimination was to assemble it in a way that puts the emphasis back on the app. These users will say, “This is not e-harmony. This is Grindr. Get over it or block me.”
Since Grindr Has a reputation as a hookup appAccording to such users, insensitivity is expected even if they are racist. Such reactions reinforce Grindr’s view of a space dominated by carnal desire, rather than social tenderness.
Prejudice foams on the surface
Social media apps have dramatically changed the landscape of gay culture, but the benefits of these tech tools can be difficult to understand.Some scholars say how these apps are Enable people to live in rural areas To connect with each other or how it gives people living in the city a choice To the increasingly gentrified LGBTQ space..
However, in practice, these technologies often only reproduce, if not enhance, the same problems and problems that the LGBTQ community faces.As a scholar such as Theo Green unpacked elseweherePeople of colors that identify with queer experience a lot of alienation.this is true Even people of color who occupy some celebrities in the LGBTQ world..
Perhaps Grindr has become a particularly fertile land due to cruelty, allowing anonymity in ways that other dating apps can’t. scratchAnother gay dating app, users need to find out more about who they are. However, Grindr allows people to be anonymous and faceless, to be scaled down to an image of the torso, or in some cases to be completely invisible.
New sociology of the Internet has repeatedly discovered anonymity in online life Bring out the worst human behavior..Only when a person is known Will they be responsible for their actions?, A discovery that reflects Plato’s story Ring of GygesThe philosopher wonders if the invisible man would then do a vicious act.
At the very least, the benefits of these apps have not been universally experienced. Grindr seems to be just as aware. In 2018, the app said#KindrGrindr“Campaigns. But it’s hard to tell if the app is the cause of such a toxic environment or a symptomatology of something that is always present.
[You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]
Author: Christopher T. Connor-Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri, Columbia