Swipe, hook-up and harassment: the complex scripts of dating app culture

author Laura Byn
journal RIDP (ISSN: 0223-5404)
volume 2024
issue Researching the boundaries of sexual integrity, gender violence and image-based abuse
section Sexual integrity
date of publication Sept. 20, 2024
language English
pagina 135
abstract

Dating apps have digitalised the dating game and are facilitating hook-ups. Yet opportunities rarely come without risks. Literature has found a prevalence of online sexual harassment up to 88.8%. Its seemingly frequent normalisation raises concern. Using sexual script theory, this paper sheds light on the current norms of sex and dating to grasp the culture on Tinder by analysing the sexual scripts of heterosexual students on Tinder using a qualitative survey. Data shows that whilst Tinder users entertain hybrid scripts, the traditional script remains predominant. The market-like system of Tinder seems to enforce traditional courtship with a so-called ‘Tinder etiquette’. When users meet up for a casual sex date, scripts become more egalitarian. However, even the new-found sexual freedom for women is a double-edged sword as they are stigmatised still and slutshamed. Remarkably, hook-up culture is not as dangerous or superficial as it might seem as students who hook up using Tinder have more frequent yet safer casual sex than non-users. More so, in the end they still seem to long for a romantic connection with their sexual partner.