Student blasts gay dating app over alleged racism
A gay dating phone application is being accused of bigotry at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Daily Californian published a sexually graphic column (reader discretion advised) that accuses the app, Grindr, of internalized racism akin to Jim Crow laws.
Grindr, columnist Chris Cox said, allows individuals to categorize people by height, weight, tribe (social classifications which includes “bear,” “daddy,” and HIV positive aka “poz,” among others), and preferred sexual position.
Many people write “no blacks no fems” or something of the sort on their biographies on the app, he writes.
“These discreet deplorables institute a sexual Jim Crow that segregates who can climb into their exclusive beds,” Cox writes.
“Bedside racism is the discrimination that exists within online dating platforms and is the sadistic bedfellow of internalized homophobia,” he continues, arguing that, “This prejudiced force marginalizes people of color on digital dating spheres, as perpetrators are protected from any real consequences by hiding behind the shield of modern technology.”
He said that some individuals try to get away with these biographies on the application because they can assert that it is just their personal preference, but Cox isn’t buying it, declaring such excuses mere justifications for “their lack of attraction to different minorities under the harmful guise of personal preference.”
“For just a small fee, you can even filter through people by the attributes they list,” he writes. “Don’t want to see anyone over 150 pounds? Well, you’ve got it, dude. No Latinx people? No problem. Bippity boppity blocked: Now you’ve got the closest white twinks in your area, have at it you fucking bedside racist.”
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