This week, I read “’Tindersluts’ and ‘Tinderellas’: Examing the Digital Affordances Shaping the (Hetero)Sexual Scripts of Young Womxn on Tinder” by MacKenzie Christensen. This article talked about how Tinder has evolved a hybrid script that combines dating and sexual scripts with mutual agreement for casual sex. It mostly focused on the on-campus impacts Tinder and these scripts have on women, specifically women of color who are overrepresented on the app.
Reading this article made me reflect on hookup culture and how it will affect our generation and future generations. Hookup culture brings a nonchalant attitude to romantic and sexual interactions. Prior to hookup culture, there was a certain number of emotions attached to sexual interactions. Women were even scrutinized for being clingy after hooking up with a man. Now, there is a lack of emotions devoted to sexual partners and sex is seen as a casual aspect of life.
I think a lot of my generation will blame this dissociation on trauma or family issues. For example, the lack of a maternal or paternal presence in an individual’s life can shape how they view romance, dating, sex, marriage, etc. I agree that trauma and experiences can shape one’s love languages, views, etc.
I also ponder on the direct impact that Tinder and dating apps have had on my generation’s view on hookup culture, dating, marriage, and other heterosexual interactions. I would argue the impact is monumental. Tinder gave easy access to hooking up that barely requires any effort. Referring back to the hybrid script, there is a mutual consensus on Tinder that casual sex is the norm so minimal effort must be exerted to have sexual relations with someone.
Before Tinder, hookups required at least a certain level of effort. For example, if a man was intrigued by a woman at a bar and wanted to hook up with her, he would at least have to approach her and win her over before the sexual interactions commenced. Same goes for vice versa interactions and non-heterosexual interactions.
Now, hookups can be generated with the click of a button on Tinder, Bumble, etc. We have turned human sexual interactions into robotic, technological behaviors. Tinder has successfully cut out the in-person aspect of dating, hooking up, sex, etc. I think people that rely heavily on Tinder to kickstart hook up interactions will have difficulty finding a long-term partner due to their inability to communicate in person and the lack of a dating script.
I think the hybrid script is so unique because it combines the dating and sex scripts. I think dating scripts may be permanently eliminated if we continue relying too heavily on applications for sexual and human interactions. I would like to see a revert in behavior and less Tinder interactions, but realistically that is not going to happen. Realistically, our generation and future generations will continue to communicate remotely and permanently hinder their dating script skills. Maybe this can be spun into something that it good for our society since I feel that dating scripts mostly have heterosexual implications.
Comments