“Dating platforms are fertile ground for sexual violence.” This is the main conclusion of a study carried out on these applications, which reveals overwhelming data: almost 22% of women have been forced to have a sexual relationship through explicit violence, that is, they have been raped.
But not only that, 57.9% of them felt pressured to have sexual relations in these encounters and 40% felt the same in relation to practices of sexual domination (BDSM). In addition, almost 30% of the women affirmed that their sexual partner continued with a practice after they had manifested physical pain and desire to stop.
This is indicated by the report ‘Apps without Sexual Violence’, carried out by the Young Women Federation, a quantitative and qualitative study, which includes a survey of almost a thousand Tinder users and the preparation of two profiles in this application (one male and the other female) to check gender stereotypes.
The result of the work reveals that in the online world these stereotypes are even more prominent than in real life, to which must be added the verification that the hardest pornography, the one that exposes violent sex, prevails in the masculine ideology. Male domination and female submission are present in a good part of the conversations that take place; “It is the eroticization of pain and the dehumanization of women”, point out the authors of the work (Mónica Sanz, Irene Otero and Ana Sofia Crespo).
Some data: in the first interaction, 65.4% of the women stated that they had received questions such as “are you submissive?” and 54.6% of those surveyed affirm that they have been asked about their interest in violent sex. 61% of the women who expressed their rejection of this type of sex had been described as “prude”.
The feminine ideal that is promoted culturally is also promoted when it comes to being eligible for a sexual-affective relationship of any kind, be it sexual or romantic, on these platforms.
Thus, the majority of the women present themselves in their profiles as those surveyed answered: “fun and carefree” (79.1%), “cheerful, affectionate” (77.2%), “feminine” (69.4%) , “sexually empowered” (56.1%). The new femininity coexists with other traits such as “traditional” (47.8%) and “delicate/princess” (44.4%).
Around half of the respondents said they were looking for men who fit the masculine ideal under adjectives such as: “charismatic” (69.1%), “brave” (59.3%), “masculine” (53.1%) , “protective” (51.3%), “strong” (50.2%). The qualifier “intelligent” (80.6%) stands out from all those proposed in the female petitions.
And they, what are they looking for? The male profiles demand “daring”, “without prejudice”, “liberated”, “morbid” or “self-confident” women, qualifications linked almost exclusively to sexuality. The same happens with phrases like: “I look for intensity and madness” or “only open-mind women,” says the study.
Given this scenario, the Young Women’s Foundation calls for urgent measures to protect the users of these platforms and turn these virtual environments into safe spaces.
“It is imperative to reflect on the reified feminine ideal that is offered to youth in the media, social networks, cultural products and advertising, with the dehumanized social perception of women being the underlying reality of sexist violence in its entire spectrum,” he points out. The report.
