• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox

‘It’s just a preference’: How Some Gay Men Justify Sorting, Selecting on Grindr by Race. New Research

Christopher T. Conner, The Conversation August 17, 2021 Leave a Comment

Grindr by Race

Grindr by race
Grindr allows for anonymity in a way that other dating apps do not. Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images

On gay dating apps like Grindr, many users have profiles that contain phrases like “I don’t date Black men,” or that claim they are “not attracted to Latinos.” Other times they’ll list races acceptable to them: “White/Asian/Latino only.”

This language is so pervasive on the app that websites such as Douchebags of Grindr and hashtags like #grindrwhileblack can be used to find countless examples of the abusive language that men use against people of color.

Since 2015 I’ve been studying LGBTQ culture and gay life, and much of that time has been spent trying to untangle and understand the tensions and prejudices within gay culture.

“This isn’t e-harmony, this is Grindr, get over it or block me.”

One user on Grindr put emphasis on the app

While social scientists have explored racism on online dating apps, most of this work has centered on highlighting the problem, a topic I’ve also written about.

I’m seeking to move beyond simply describing the problem and to better understand why some gay men behave this way. From 2015 to 2019 I interviewed gay men from the Midwest and West Coast regions of the United States. Part of that fieldwork was focused on understanding the role Grindr plays in LGBTQ life.

A slice of that project – which is currently under review with a top peer-reviewed social science journal – explores the way gay men rationalize their sexual racism and discrimination on Grindr.

‘It’s just a preference’

The gay men I connected with tended to make one of two justifications.

The most common was to simply describe their behaviors as “preferences.” One participant I interviewed, when asked about why he stated his racial preferences, said, “I don’t know. I just don’t like Latinos or Black guys.”

A Grindr user says 'Whites/Asians/Latinos only.'
A Grindr profile used in the study specifies interest in certain races. Christopher T. Conner, CC BY

That user went on to explain that he had even purchased a paid version of the app that allowed him to filter out Latinos and Black men. His image of his ideal partner was so fixed that he would rather – as he put it – “be celibate” than be with a Black or Latino man. (During the 2020 #BLM protests in response to the murder of George Floyd, Grindr eliminated the ethnicity filter.)

Sociologists have long been interested in the concept of preferences, whether they’re favorite foods or people we’re attracted to. Preferences may appear natural or inherent, but they’re actually shaped by larger structural forces – the media we consume, the people we know and the experiences we have. In my study, many of the respondents seemed to have never really thought twice about the source of their preferences. When confronted, they simply became defensive.

“It was not my intent to cause distress,” another user explained. “My preference may offend others … [however,] I derive no satisfaction from being mean to others, unlike those who have problems with my preference.”

The other way that I observed some gay men justifying their discrimination was by framing it in a way that put the emphasis back on the app. These users would say things like, “This isn’t e-harmony, this is Grindr, get over it or block me.”

Since Grindr has a reputation as a hookup app, bluntness should be expected, according to users like this one – even when it veers into racism. Responses like these reinforce the idea of Grindr as a space where social niceties don’t matter and carnal desire reigns.

Prejudices bubble to the surface

While social media apps have dramatically altered the landscape of gay culture, the benefits from these technological tools can sometimes be difficult to see. Some scholars point to how these apps enable those living in rural areas to connect with one another, or how it gives those living in cities alternatives to LGBTQ spaces that are increasingly gentrified.

In practice, however, these technologies often only reproduce, if not heighten, the same problems and issues facing the LGBTQ community. As scholars such as Theo Green have unpacked elsewehere, people of color who identify as queer experience a great deal of marginalization. This is true even for people of color who occupy some degree of celebrity within the LGBTQ world.

Perhaps Grindr has become particularly fertile ground for cruelty because it allows anonymity in a way that other dating apps do not. Scruff, another gay dating app, requires users to reveal more of who they are. However, on Grindr people are allowed to be anonymous and faceless, reduced to images of their torsos or, in some cases, no images at all.

The emerging sociology of the internet has found that, time and again, anonymity in online life brings out the worst human behaviors. Only when people are known do they become accountable for their actions, a finding that echoes Plato’s story of the Ring of Gyges, in which the philosopher wonders if a man who became invisible would then go on to commit heinous acts.

At the very least, the benefits from these apps aren’t experienced universally. Grindr seems to recognize as much; in 2018, the app launched its “#KindrGrindr” campaign. But it’s difficult to know if the apps are the cause of such toxic environments, or if they’re a symptom of something that has always existed.

[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.]

Christopher T. Conner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The ConversationGrindr by race on Towleroad

Grindr by race

588782 origin 1

Horror on Oslo Pride day as gunman goes on deadly rampage at gay bar

June 25, 2022
Read More
588766 origin 1

Thousands unite in Polish, Ukrainian LGBT+ parades in Warsaw

June 25, 2022
Read More
588756 origin 1

In their own words: U.S. Supreme Court justices on overturning Roe v. Wade

June 25, 2022
Read More
588746 origin 1

US sports stars shocked by ‘terrifying’ abortion decision

June 24, 2022
Read More
588726 origin 1

Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple among winners of 2022 ‘British LGBT Awards’

June 24, 2022
Read More
588563 origin 1

Factbox-Where abortion is still legal in the U.S. after the fall of Roe v. Wade

June 24, 2022
Read More

Topics: Featured, Living, Race, Social Media, Space More Posts About: Grindr, Hook-up apps

Related Posts
  • Top Catholic Who Led Church Response to Underage Sex Scandal Resigns On News He Was Tracked At Gay Bars Using Grindr Data
  • Houston Suspect Used Grindr to Target Man for Robbery, Then Murdered Him: WATCH
  • Gay Man Stabbed and Strangled into Coma by Grindr Date Speaks Out, Seeks Hate Crime Charge
  • Thousands unite in Polish, Ukrainian LGBT+ parades in Warsaw

    Thousands unite in Polish, Ukrainian LGBT+ parades in Warsaw

    Published by Reuters By Kuba Stezycki and Joanna Plucinska WARSAW (Reuters) -Thousands of Poles and Ukrainians are walking for peace and demanding an end to discrimination against the LGBT+ community on Saturday, in a joint Pride …Read More »
  • In their own words: U.S. Supreme Court justices on overturning Roe v. Wade

    In their own words: U.S. Supreme Court justices on overturning Roe v. Wade

    Published by Reuters By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – In a bombshell decision, the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an …Read More »
  • US sports stars shocked by ‘terrifying’ abortion decision

    US sports stars shocked by ‘terrifying’ abortion decision

    Published by AFP Megan Rapinoe joined a chorus of US sports stars voicing anger at the US Supreme Court decision to scrap a woman's right to an abortion Los Angeles (AFP) – Sports stars across the …Read More »
  • Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple among winners of 2022 ‘British LGBT Awards’

    Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple among winners of 2022 ‘British LGBT Awards’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and the first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple were among the winners of this year’s ‘British LGBT Awards’. Vogue director Edward Enninful, 50, and singer Alicia Keys, …Read More »
Previous Post: « Lily Cole, Model and Actor in ‘Dr. Who’, ‘Star Wars’, Married to Kwame Ferreira, Says She is Definitely Queer
Next Post: ‘We need food’: heavy rains lash Haiti quake survivors »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Billie Eilish tells Glastonbury fans to scream away anxieties at history making headline slot

    Billie Eilish tells Glastonbury fans to scream away anxieties at history making headline slot

  • Landmark gun-safety bill heads to U.S. House after Senate passage

    Landmark gun-safety bill heads to U.S. House after Senate passage

  • Prosecutors seek 25-year prison sentence for Chauvin over breach of Floyd’s rights

    Prosecutors seek 25-year prison sentence for Chauvin over breach of Floyd’s rights

RSS Partner Links

  • Why WEEKEND Is Still The Hottest Explicit Gay Film
  • Saturday 'Stache
  • Maya Rudolph Says She Forces Her Kids To Play Music
  • Lizzo Donating $500K From Upcoming Tour To Planned Parenthood
  • Lily James, Kit Harington, Rose Leslie & More Celebs Have Been Spotted at Glastonbury 2022! (Photos)
  • WATCH: Julie Andrews looks back at legendary career and first appearance on “The View”
  • Billy Eichner’s upcoming movie “Bros” could do lots to educate straights about romantic lives of gays

Most Recent

  • Horror on Oslo Pride day as gunman goes on deadly rampage at gay bar

    Horror on Oslo Pride day as gunman goes on deadly rampage at gay bar

  • Thousands unite in Polish, Ukrainian LGBT+ parades in Warsaw

    Thousands unite in Polish, Ukrainian LGBT+ parades in Warsaw

  • In their own words: U.S. Supreme Court justices on overturning Roe v. Wade

    In their own words: U.S. Supreme Court justices on overturning Roe v. Wade

  • US sports stars shocked by ‘terrifying’ abortion decision

    US sports stars shocked by ‘terrifying’ abortion decision

  • Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple among winners of 2022 ‘British LGBT Awards’

    Lady Gaga, Tom Daley and first all-male ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ couple among winners of 2022 ‘British LGBT Awards’

  • Factbox-Where abortion is still legal in the U.S. after the fall of Roe v. Wade

    Factbox-Where abortion is still legal in the U.S. after the fall of Roe v. Wade

  • Analysis-Trump’s justices decisive in long campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade

    Analysis-Trump’s justices decisive in long campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade

  • U.S. Supreme Court overturns abortion rights landmark

    U.S. Supreme Court overturns abortion rights landmark

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in