ABSTRACT

Using a multi-sited, multiple methods, and qualitative research design (including participant-observation, in-depth interviews, and analysis of online dating profiles) I examine how users engage in and justify discriminatory actions in the gay dating app “Grindr.” This paper also explores how the app allows for new ways that members can engage in these practices by blocking, filtering, and ignoring users. My findings consider the way mobile dating apps are structured to promote evaluating, and stigmatize, other users and promote a sexual hierarchy rooted in heteronormative gender roles. I also argue, based on these findings, that users normalize this behavior by constructing a culture that tolerates this behavior. Users that I interviewed justify their discriminatory behaviors (including racism, sexism, fat shaming, and discrimination against users who are HIV+) by reframing them in a sense similar to those discussed by proponents of neutralization theory. This paper contributes to the established literature on digital communication technologies by arguing that, rather than decreasing discriminatory behaviors, applications like Grindr achieve the opposite. I conclude with a consideration of how my findings expand interactionist understandings of social life, sexual capital, and online experiences.

摘要

使用多站点、多种方法和定性研究设计（包括参与者观察、深入访谈和在线约会资料分析），我研究了用户如何参与并证明同性恋约会应用程序“Grindr”中的歧视行为。本文还探讨了该应用程序如何允许成员通过阻止、过滤和忽略用户来参与这些实践的新方式。我的研究结果考虑了移动约会应用程序的结构方式，以促进评估和污名化其他用户，并促进根植于异性恋性别角色的性等级制度。我还认为，基于这些发现，用户通过构建一种容忍这种行为的文化来规范这种行为。我采访的用户为他们的歧视行为辩护（包括种族主义、性别歧视、肥胖羞辱、以及对 HIV+ 用户的歧视）通过在类似于中和理论支持者讨论的意义上重新定义它们。本文通过论证，而不是减少歧视行为，而不是减少歧视行为，对数字通信技术的既定文献做出了贡献，像 Grindr 这样的应用程序实现了相反的结果。最后，我考虑了我的发现如何扩展互动主义者对社会生活、性资本和在线体验的理解。