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Men feel entitled to casual sex if Tinder date is unattractive

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ANI Washington

A new study has found that male Tinder users think they are entitled to use unattractive women however they want.

The British Sociological Association's annual conference in Birmingham was told on 7 April, 2016 that the men believed they were entitled to have casual sex to compensate for the "breach of trust."

Dr Jenny van Hooff from Manchester Metropolitan University carried out a study of the use of Tinder among men in Manchester and Cheshire.

She told the conference that many of the respondents felt let down on meeting a woman and on feeling a visual representation hadn't been accurate. Some of them felt that this breaking of trust was a licence to use their date as they saw fit, thereby, speeding up intimacy and undermining it at the same time.

 

A 29-year-old man told her: "I've been very misled by very selective pictures, angles when the person isn't as attractive or as slim or sporty as they make out on pictures. I try to swerve if possible, or get something out of it."

One 37-year-old man said: "'I am looking for a long term relationship, but you know within seconds of meeting someone whether that's going to happen. So now, I think if there's a chance of a shag I'll take it. Lots of girls put 'no one-night stands' on their profiles, but they still end up having them. Tinder has really toughened me up."

A 34-year-old told her: "What I will say is that it is natural for human beings to take advantage of each other, and Tinder hasn't changed this, but it has made it easier."

One 36-year-old man said: "It's Tinder - I would say your chances of getting sex go up if a girl's lied on her profile."

A 38-year-old man said: "I went to meet her in a bar in the Northern Quarter and I could see that she was really fat. If it had been the kind of bar where I could have left without her seeing me, I would have done, but I was stuck there." They ended the evening by having a one-night stand.

Dr van Hooff noted that they wanted to find out how Tinder affected the nature of our participants' relationships and intimacies. The self-promotion encouraged by digital culture appears to undermine authenticity in romantic encounters, often leading to disappointment in our participants' experiences.

She added that the research found that in many respects, dating apps appear to accentuate traditionally gendered norms, rather than providing a space that's removed from wider gender inequalities.

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First Published: Apr 08 2016 | 1:11 PM IST

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