A new study out of the University of Waterloo offers yet another reason to delete Grindr from your phone.
According to researchers, the popular hookup app is giving men severe body image issues, especially when it comes to how they feel about their weight.
13 Grindr users from various cities around the Greater Toronto Area talked to researchers about how the app has negatively impacted the images they have of themselves.
“We were surprised to find that weight stigma is perpetuated by individual users and embedded within the app’s information architecture,” says Eric Filice, a public health doctoral candidate and lead author of the study.
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The study reports:
For example, because Grindr facilitates anonymity more than other apps (it doesn’t require a name or link to other social media platforms), and because its pre-set body descriptions don’t acknowledge being overweight (you can be ‘toned,’ ‘average,’ ‘large,’ ‘muscular,’ ‘slim’ or ‘stocky’), most participants in the study perceived being overweight as a stigma.
“Participants recalled their body weight or shape being scrutinized for allegedly being incompatible with their gender expression or preferred position during intercourse,” explains Filice.
Researchers found user’s dissatisfaction with their own bodies was the result of the app’s emphasis on sexual objectification and appearance comparisons.
“It doesn’t help that because Grindr exists to connect users for dating or sex, physical appearance bears greater cultural salience,” Filice says.
“People often compare their candid, in-person appearance to the meticulously curated or digitally altered appearances of others they encounter online.”
So what’s the solution? Aside from deleting one’s account, that is. Since, as researchers note, many gay men “see Grindr as a necessary evil, as internet-mediated communication has served a unique historical role for gay men in circumventing social, cultural and legal barriers to making connections in public spaces.”
“Health promotion strategists should focus on patterns in app use that are most harmful and orient their interventions accordingly,” Filice concludes.
He ads, “Much remains to be done. We still have little insight into how dating apps influence the bodily perceptions of trans and gender-nonconforming folks.”
Related: Her husband insists he’s not into dudes but he won’t stop chatting with guys on Grindr… Now what?!
Brian
In other breaking news, scientists have discovered that water is wet.
Josh447
I know. And the tantamount of controversy about those findings is just plain rediculous.
xanadude
How about you just don’t care what other people think about you, and find someone who likes you for you? Bullying only works if you let it.
1898
it’s human nature to care what others think about you. anyone who says “i don’t care what other people think about me” is lying. and “bullying only works if you let it” is classic blaming-the-victim
JaredMacBride
So the solution is to make “fat” or “chubby” one of the body type choices?
Dudeguy
I don’t know, and I am not part of Grindr, but I would recommend that they have bear, twink, versatile, bottom, top, more bottom but also versatile, more top but also versatile, dominant, sub, sissy(but only meant to be the playful kind and not insulting type who like to dress the part or maybe that should be transvestite), sounds manly, sounds fem and so on. I am not sure what should and shouldn’t be here exactly, but someone who is kind and knows what’s acceptable can add or remove what they want from this list. And the people using Grindr can perhaps add their own words to describe how and what they want if given enough characters to do so.
OK, OK, I get it though. I am in no way trying to stereo type. I understand how what I am replying can be insulting and I am not trying to be upsetting. I am still a closet case, so I don’t have experience to really answer this question, just experience through reading and much reasoning which can sometimes go sour, but I try to be understanding. I am not that young or old either.
truthseeker
Stopped reading at a sample size of 13 users
bonbon
I wish it wasn’t so but stocky has become used as a euphemism for fat/obese in the same way curvy has for women so the option kind of hasn’t been left off..
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
13 users??? How ever did they find the time to compile ALL that data???
Sooooo tired of everyone pulling out the victim Boo freaking Hoo card. There are all kinds of flavors of Gay. Everyone is entitled to their preferences.
And it’s not like Grindr is the only hook app. There are apps for every type of guys.
If someone is not interested in you and as long as they ain’t spewing hatred, they are not doing anything wrong. Put on your big boy pants and move the flock on …
Bob LaBlah
From the article: “So what’s the solution?”
Just a thought but how about accepting that your genes (those things you inherit from your mother and father and can’t do anything about ) might be the reason why a natural six pack, well endowment, natural bubble butt or thirty inch waist and such is not in the cards for you unless you practically move into a gym.
Josh447
Next Grindr requirement for the hot gay guy in a gender bender world: Must have penis.
Dunnedin
Thirteen participants in this “study”? Sheesh! Obviously researchers at University of Waterloo haven’t learned research methodology very well. Oh, but wait. It’s probably “qualitative” not “quantitative” research, so your population can be 1…or 5 million. No conclusions can be drawn.
PS1
Too many fat people have deluded themselves into believing that they’re, somehow, entitled to hot, buff, sexy people. They’re not. They didn’t do the work to earn it, so they’ll be denied. Deservedly.