One thought on “Agency Through Dating Apps-Emily Dean, Emily Dorsey, Grace S, and Joy M”
Artist Statement:
For our project, we decided to focus on “Online Dating” not only to show each of our experiences with dating apps but to emphasize the ways that it has empowered us or given us agency throughout our lives. Dating apps have many different meanings to people within society. Some may think dating apps are used as “hook up” apps, and others may use it to find relationships. While a vast number of college students are engaging in hookups, there is no agreement on how to define a hookup. It is also important to mention the concept of strategic ambiguity in relation to hookups. People practice strategic ambiguity when they use the term to explain their sexual activities instead of giving details about their sexual activities as an effective tactic to protect their sexual and social identities. The ambiguity of the term serves women and men in different ways while also reinforcing and challenging the prevailing gender order. It allows men to submit and maintain components of hegemonic masculinity and women to adhere to and preserve components of accentuated/emphasized femininity.
As a group, we realized that people rarely talk about the empowerment or agency that people may feel from the use of dating apps. The hegemonic view of online dating tends to be negative, as people often assume that relationships that result from apps like Tinder are less authentic, or that it is what you turn to when all else fails. We are seeking to portray online dating in a way that emphasizes its empowerment in all realms that are personal to us. For example, online dating empowers some people by improving their confidence, giving them agency over their dating preferences, etc. In general people on dating apps have a lot of control over the people they choose to match with. With dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble people are able to choose who they would like to talk to whether it be through physical features or elements within their profile. Dating app profiles can include people’s interests, faith background, age, and height making it easier to see who you would wish to match or talk with. Overall, the purpose of our project is to emphasize the counter-hegemonic agency that is generated from using dating apps and how that has impacted our lives.
Artist Statement:
For our project, we decided to focus on “Online Dating” not only to show each of our experiences with dating apps but to emphasize the ways that it has empowered us or given us agency throughout our lives. Dating apps have many different meanings to people within society. Some may think dating apps are used as “hook up” apps, and others may use it to find relationships. While a vast number of college students are engaging in hookups, there is no agreement on how to define a hookup. It is also important to mention the concept of strategic ambiguity in relation to hookups. People practice strategic ambiguity when they use the term to explain their sexual activities instead of giving details about their sexual activities as an effective tactic to protect their sexual and social identities. The ambiguity of the term serves women and men in different ways while also reinforcing and challenging the prevailing gender order. It allows men to submit and maintain components of hegemonic masculinity and women to adhere to and preserve components of accentuated/emphasized femininity.
As a group, we realized that people rarely talk about the empowerment or agency that people may feel from the use of dating apps. The hegemonic view of online dating tends to be negative, as people often assume that relationships that result from apps like Tinder are less authentic, or that it is what you turn to when all else fails. We are seeking to portray online dating in a way that emphasizes its empowerment in all realms that are personal to us. For example, online dating empowers some people by improving their confidence, giving them agency over their dating preferences, etc. In general people on dating apps have a lot of control over the people they choose to match with. With dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble people are able to choose who they would like to talk to whether it be through physical features or elements within their profile. Dating app profiles can include people’s interests, faith background, age, and height making it easier to see who you would wish to match or talk with. Overall, the purpose of our project is to emphasize the counter-hegemonic agency that is generated from using dating apps and how that has impacted our lives.