Collin Mims is a young writer for the news site Hilltop Views. He recently penned a thoughtful review of the dating app Grindr.
“Living in a heterosexist society has left generations of disenfranchised, touch-starved LGBT people, myself among them,” he begins. “That being said, there have been efforts made to alleviate these issues, particularly through apps.”
“This is a review of Grindr, one of the most infamous ‘dating’ apps out there.”
OK, great! Now that that’s been made clear, let’s get to Mims’ thoughts on the “infamous dating app.” Spoiler alert: He’s not a fan.
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His first issue with it are taps. Mims explains:
These little symbols on a person’s profile allow you to send a flame, a little devil or a speech bubble to a person you might be interested. Respectively, these mean that you find the person hot, you’re interested in a sexual encounter or you want to chat with them.
Taps are problematic, Mims says, because nobody uses them. In fact, a lot of guys actually write on their profiles that they don’t respond to taps. So then what, Mims wonders, is the point of them?
“It’s hardly a conversation starter,” he notes.
Mims is also not a huge fan of Grindr’s gaymojis:
Speaking of making communication harder, it might be prudent now to talk about gaymojis. As if communication wasn’t messy enough with emojis, Grindr decided to throw its own take into the mix, resulting in a mix of sexually suggestive fruits and veggies, as well as vague gay culture references, including the appropriated phrase “Bye, Felicia.”
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The concept of gaymojis is “cute,” Mims says, but “in reality it’s mostly just uncomfortable unless you have a fun rapport with the individual.”
So while I appreciate having so many variations of eggplant available to send to strangers over the internet (to say what, exactly?), the addition is ultimately unnecessary, failing to improve communication or the overall Grindr experience.
The only remotely positive thing Mims has to say about the app is complimenting its inclusion of gender and pronoun identities.
“It’s a small, but appreciated step towards normalizing transmen and non binary individuals into the gay community, as it breaks down the assumption everyone is a cis man,” he says.
But, since no good deed goes unpunished, even that is not without its flaws.
Unfortunately, cis men ruined that one, taking it as an opportunity to label their gender as “tacos” or “fighter jet” or some other endlessly creative way to say “I’m transphobic and don’t consider the plights of transmen to be valid.”
So what’s Mims’ final assessment of the app?
“Grindr takes a step forward and a few steps back, but they’re trying,” he concludes. “Now if only the same could be said for the gay men that use it.”
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Frank
1. Grindr is owned by a Chinese company
Given the official policy of the Chinese government is to treat gay people with shock therapy (and they boast a near 100% success rate) this is surprising. In no scenario would the Central Party allow a Chinese company to acquire a company with this theme except for nefarious purposes. America…. selling out to our enemy.
2. I would NEVER want someone to know where I am to hurt me or my property as a gay man; there are some messed up people out there and by using Grindr you have given a map to your personal life
Nowuvedoneit
Is China coming after you? I don’t think where you live matters to them.
Frank
You are DUMB as many people are handing over your location to ANY potentially dangerous people who might want to harm you based on your sexuality…
Nowuvedoneit
Frank you’re dumb that you think the Chinese government gives a crud what you do in America. Or for the fact anybody. You can get robber or killed just waking up in your own house. So get offf your high horde of self importance.
Nowuvedoneit
I have used those labels as I want to and no I didn’t use attack helicopters as my gender. But the option is there for people to use. It’s not transphobic. Trans people do not own pronouns or their usage.
ChrisK
“Collin Mims is a young writer”
Seeing the world through twenty somethings eyes. Wow. It just never gets boring. Lol Queerty is good for that.
RomanHans
The best thing I’ll read all week? This isn’t even the best thing I read between 6:35 and 6:36z
Daniel-Reader
Chinese people should not tolerate government officials who violate human rights since such officials are vastly outnumbered.
cory_orsborn
i always thought i would find my love on a dating app but i then i realize its just a hookup app….u have to get out there in the real world and meet ppl…..2 and and sme change now i been with my bf, met him at a xmas party…. make u think does apps make a relationship less appealing, no work no effort no putting ur best foot forwad, instant gratification at ur hands….just something to think about
Frank
Everything you said is the gospel truth….it is NOT a dating app…sure it can be whatever you want it to be but with so many men showing their private parts it is tough to weed the endless bushes…
The real world is where the REAL work happens to solidify something real…all my best to you and your boyfriend. At 49 my husband and I have been together for 14 years in a closed relationship that makes up both happy
Nowuvedoneit
Frank yet again playing holier than thou. lol met my husband on days off gay.com chat room. Going on 15 year together now. So what you and your husband met elsewhere? I am 40. So what does you being 49 have to do with having a long term relationship?
Danny595
Nowuvedoneit – If Frank is in a real marriage and you are in an open marriage (aka, a sham marriage) then he isn’t playing holier than thou. He *is* holier than thou, i.e., you.
Nowuvedoneit
Danny, I never said I was in an open marriage you just inferred that yourself. And I love it that gays now are being morally superior in what is a good marriage or not. Barely got the right to marry and now are telling people who has a better marriage.
Frank
THIS IS SO TRUE…because you are not going to change anyone’s heart or mind…they are who they are and you are who you are and shall never meet so it is best to keep on stepping…
https://thesandtrap.com/uploads/monthly_2017_07/large.595a49e5c89fb_DontFeedtheTrolls.gif.cb3d7ea7b471cf83997cccc0bd27c79a.gif
NateOcean
Wow.
Someone has a chip on his shoulder, or a stick up his arse, or whatever.
Danny595
Social Justice Warrior moral rules:
Paying fees to a venture capitalist/hedge fund-owned entity in order to acquire the bodies of strangers for sex = not problematic
Objectifying other gay people and reducing them to pictures of human torsos = not problematic
Quoting two words from a movie = problematic
Gay men not wanting to have sex with transmen (i.e., testosterone-infused females) = problematic
SiamSam
Note the immediate call to victimhood in the first sentence. Standard SJW MO. Then there’s this:
“The only remotely positive thing Mims has to say about the app is complimenting its inclusion of gender and pronoun identities.”
But of course the introduction of Orwellian Newgayspeak like “non-binary” is considered doubleplusgood, I mean, “positive.”
DCguy
Wow, two of Mo Bros troll accounts on here talking to each other? Hmm, not the usual posting you all pop up in.
Oh wait, it’s a post you can try to cause divisiveness in by attacking one age group and using the Breitbart language of “Social Justice Warrior”.
Isn’t it interesting that to Republicans, one of the biggest insults is to accuse somebody of supporting justice.
alfred
a female who is uncomfortably in their body and who fetishize’s the gay male identity, is NOT a homosexual man. Dont list all the ‘problematic’ things gay men do, while simultaneously reducing your experiences in order to create a new ‘identity’. ‘collin’ looks quite trans in ‘their’ photos……
Aaron
I always find it interesting how quickly the comments on this site turn into dismissal of others’ life experiences while simultaneously trying to get validation for their own. What does your opinion of transmen have to do with anything? If Grindr allows transmen to express themselves, and also gives you a work around to avoid them, then seems like you both are being catered to, and can just get on with it.
alfred
Its not the notion of someone being able to express themselves ‘authentically’ and give them options that bother me. Its the diminishing of what it means to be a gay man in order for that person to feel ‘validated’; thats bothersome. All this double speak does, is gloss over the fact that they are trying to redefine what it means to be homosexual. Simply caricaturing an ‘identity’ doesnt mean you are it, and it certainly doesnt mean that homoSEXUALS should therefore be attracted to you. Sex and gender are different. Any entry level sociology class will tell you that. One is biological, the other is a social construct. It is called homosexuality for a reason, and not homogenderism. Why is this aimed at gay men? Aim it at bisexuals, as they are the ones who would be interested (most of them still wouldn’t be, but thats not the point). Cultural appropriation is rightly (bar sometimes overly done) called out, but co-opting the experiences of gay men to fulfil a fantasy is ok because they ‘feel’ it? Homosexuality is an innate being, not a garb to put on and play with.