Treena Orchard has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for previous research studies. When love, lust and all things in between come calling, dating apps appear to be the only way to meet new people and experience romance in Drawing upon my personal experiences and academic insights about sexuality, gender and power, this article explores what happens when dating apps fail on their promises.
Being a tech Luddite , I never dreamed of using a dating app. However, when other options were exhausted, I found myself selecting photos and summarizing myself in a user profile. I chose Bumble because it was rumoured to have more professional men than other apps and I was intrigued by its signature design where women ask men out.
I had no intention of writing about my socio-sexual experiences, but as soon as I started my Bumble journey the words began to flow. Writing helped me cope with the bizarre things I encountered, and my anthropological insights told me that my observations were unique as well as timely. But what is Bumble all about? What does it reveal about feminism and gender in contemporary dating culture?
It was very serendipitous. However, a honeybee hive is less about sisterhood and more about gendered inequity. Just as female worker bees do the heavy lifting as they care for larvae and their hexagon lair, Bumble women perform the initial dating labour by extending invitation after invitation to potential matches.
Bumble men, much like male bees, largely sit and wait for their invites to come. In my five months on Bumble, I created unique opening lines, each of which involved not just work but also a leap of faith.
