Gay asian experience dating apps

Things have entirely changed as I came to London. Even only through browsing the profiles on dating apps, I feel like I have a lesson of sex and gender. Jay feels that LGBTQ culture in London is more acceptable which in turn makes him feel more at ease and comfortable with his own identity and use of mobile dating apps: Only into white guys.

The profiles with lines saying something against my race will defiantly make me feel uncomfortable and disgusted. Tar felt that his ethnicity and status as a foreign newcomer to London negatively impacts his popularity on Grindr and affects his self-confidence: I often asked myself, am I ugly?

The perks of dating apps: A gay guy’s discovery

Ref lecting on his travels back to his home country of Thailand, he recalls that he still receives messages from Thai locals: I still get messages when I was in Thailand. It must be something wrong here in London. Its the matter of manner and respect. Xuan recalls: I felt upset but funny.

He further describes how he reacts to these situations: Would love to up with fit smooth versatile. Specifically, it appears that the term is used to represent East Asian individuals inappropriately: I have no idea where the thought that we are non-hairy and smooth comes from.

So I sent couple of them to him. And he told me: I thought you guys are all hairless and smooth. This highlights a deeper issue of cultural appropriation and stereotyping whereby East Asian and Asian cultures and groups in general , are grouped together and generalised such that languages no longer refer to a particular country or group. Discussions 6. In a both Anglo-white dominated and heteronormative society, sufficient media visibility for LGBTQ ethnic-minority groups have always been of key importance Gross, In the context of this research, as the mobile dating scene provides a transnational scope for gay men to express their diverse sexualities, these virtual environments also provide Asian gay men to establish a gay identity and self-representation.

For these individuals, developing and learning to express their own sexualities in a cultural environment different to what they are used to, can be difficult. These observations are similar to a study investigating similar dating strategies used by gay Asian men in New Zealand Lim, Within this study, we highlighted how East Asian gay men in London often attempt to shelter their racial identities in order to avoid ethnicity-related discrimination or simply being removed from the viewpoints of other users through ethnicity filters of dating applications.

Taken together in the context of East Asian migrants arriving in London, these results suggest that users are having to strategically avoid the western-oriented labels and subcultures which have arisen from LGBTQ communities in western cultures. Ultimately, this phenomenon shapes LGBTQ individuals in these non-western cultures to conform to those represented in western countries and suppresses those which do not fit neatly established categories Martin et al.

As previously mentioned, the identity of an East Asian gay individuals can be constructed in online environments to avoid systematic filtering, due to there being no requirement of profile completeness or even honesty. A study performed a decade ago on the use of the online dating site BlackPlanet.

One could only speculate that with fewer categories available, ethnic generalisation a decade ago would be worse than that of today. In the context of self-presentation, appropriate and accurate national and ethnic identification of an individual is essential Baym, Intriguingly, the notion of dishonesty on these online environments, despite there being essentially no consequences for misinformation, is often not the case due to immediate face-to-face interactions very often being the primary motivation of these dating platforms Mowlabocus, Individuals who wish to succeed in their use of dating applications, whether with social or sexual aims, cannot maintain dishonest information regarding their cultural or ethnic identities.

Of note, one of the participants of this study, Pong, described how racial labels can be left blank, but cannot be mis-labelled as any exchange of photos or meeting in person may immediately destroy any potential opportunities. The online performance of an individual in this context is not rewarded through acting or dishonesty, but instead about self-presentation strategies and developing adaptation to situations which may not be inherently ideal for Asian gay men Manalansan, These observations provide a fascinating perspective into the gay dating community, and show how honesty is enforced even in virtual environments which appear to have little risk of repercussions.

Other aims included non- sexual socialisation, networking and even advertising for job opportunities or accommodation. The results of this thesis provide an understanding into how East Asian gay men search for information regarding local information about a new host city, with some trying to learn more about LGBTQ subcultures and others about general information about their new homes.

On the other hand, the results presented here describe how East Asian users on these mobile dating apps develop an understanding into western LGBTQ subcultures, and how their ethnic minority backgrounds fit into these communities.

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Users such as interviewee T. Others such as Tar and Pong utilise these in searching for social friendships or for individuals to explore the city with.

All of these examples gain social capital in the Greater London area as their intentions and any benefits stem from social interactions. Experiences of East-Asian Gay Men on Mobile Dating Applications in London E Asian gay newcomers in London can still benefit from the technological facilitations offered by liberal western societies in developing their sexual and gender identities.

Gay social media becomes a foundation into which conversations about LGBTQ identities and subcultures can be established from. Via the informal nature of the instant messaging Shield, , foreign users are more likely to feel comfortable and thus develop insider knowledge into physical spaces, social and cultural practices of LGBTQ people in multicultural cities such as London. Drawing on this study, this thesis also demonstrates the how the processes of migrant adaptation and identity formation Boston, A fairly recent study described in the literature review section of this thesis, identified the discriminatory experiences of Black and South Asian gay men in the UK McKeown, An occurrence of racially-motivated prejudice among other ethnic groups suggest that this issue is either an intrinsic nature of the gay UK populace, or stemming from specific, but equally across many ethnic groups.

In the scope of this study, all interviewees describe encountering such anti-Asian sentimentality or Asian fetishism from Anglo- western gay men on mobile dating apps. These themes are witnessed first hand through the set of user profiles reviewed in this study. Most surprisingly however, is that anti-Asian sentiments are equally made by individuals of Asian descent Figure 4.

Such cases are less frequent but will non the less be found and worth paying further attention to. In a historical context, dominant Anglo-white societies have f lourished globally over hundreds of years and have grown acceptance of LGBTQ people and communities. A clashing of cultural norms between these communities has resulted in racially-motivated discrimination against individuals such as gay Asian men, who are presented as undesirable to western gay media Han et al. Therefore, many East Asian gay men who do not conform to these stereotypes are often ostracised and develop strategies in order to increase their visibility and desirability.

For instance, the metaphor of attraction as a taste has led to the unfortunate reduction of ethnicities to their native foods. Users disclose that hey are not interested in rice, curry, or chocolate to connote men of East Asian, South Asian, and African or Caribbean descent, respectively. Essentially, the world is a buffer and people are free to consume as they please. With new Grindr, you will be allowed to filter users based on ethnicity, body type. Height, weight, relationship status and lots of other things.

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While ethnic filtering may facilitate prejudice against certain ethnic groups, many users describe these exclusions as non- racially motivated and simply a matter of personal taste. Experiences of East-Asian Gay Men on Mobile Dating Applications in London E argued that tastes and interested of individuals are ultimately shaped through socio-economic, as well as locational factors, and not necessarily a matter of taste, but an issue relating to cultural and political differences Bourdieu, , Liu, , Monami, While many gay East Asian men feel invisible and undesirable to the greater gay community, studies have similarily highlighted that Asian men in Belgium usually do not possess sufficient desirability to choose partners, but instead must be chosen instead Peumans, This narrative highlights a power different between gay White men and gay Asian men.

Drawing on previous studies which focused on the discrimination of Asian gay men in different western cities Shield, ; Dhoest, ; Woo, ; Riggs, ; Han, ; Lim, ; McKeown et al, ; Peumans, ; Ridge et al, , the results of this study show a difference between London and other locations. Furthermore, statements of both anti- and pro-Asian sentiment observed in this study within the mobile dating population, suggest an equal balance within the online gay dating community.

Fetishisation extends to sexual roles in which East Asian males are usually expected to perform a submissive and receptive role. A decade later, integration of internet into modern life, has accelerated the image of orientalism and facilitated the fetishisation of Asian gay men. Further examples are found in pornography in which the appearance of male Asian actors is usually limited to effeminate young males who perform submissive roles Cheng, As described by Owen Jones of The Guardian: Although the societal role of LBRTD applications have been a controversial and interesting topic of research, the results presented in this thesis provides a systematic study into the expected and perceived lifestyles of gay East Asian men upon migrating to a new and unfamiliar London.

While gay dating technologies are primarily designed and utilised for arrangement of instant sexual encounters and gratification, their purposes appear different in East Asian cultures. Individuals such as those interviewed as part of this study, have provided valuable insight into how the applications are used for the purposes of social networking, job advertisement, accommodation searching and other non-sexually motivated purposes. Migrants from East Asian countries report experiences in line with previous studies, such as systematic exclusion by both non-Asian and Asian app users alike, and how these prejudices are propagated by intrinsic filtering capabilities offered by these applications.

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Experiences of East-Asian Gay Men on Mobile Dating Applications in London E anti- and pro-Asian sentimentality which are often perpetuated by poor and under-representation of ethnic groups by western media. While the study in its current form encapsulates the experiences of gay East Asian men in the context of migratory events, it lacks sufficient resolution and depth to properly assess all other possible contributors to the themes and conclusions made throughout this thesis.

Further study of the experiences of similar ethnic groups and with a larger sample size will be essential to increasing the clarity of this research. Overall, this study has provided a framework which delves into the lifestyles of gay East Asian men, and upon which strategies may be developed on in order to remedy the notions of ethnically-motivated alienation and promote equality within LGBTQ communities. Altman D.

The perks of dating apps: A gay guy’s discovery

Rupture or continuity? The internationalization of gay identities. Hawley J ed. Postcolonial, Queer: Theoretical Intersections. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp.

Is BRO a dating app for straight men to meet straight men?

Baym, N. Personal Connections in the Digital Age. Polity Press. Blackwell, C. Seeing and being seen: Bourdieu, P. The Forms of Capital. Richardson Ed.

Gay asian experience dating apps
Gay asian experience dating apps
Gay asian experience dating apps
Gay asian experience dating apps
Gay asian experience dating apps
Gay asian experience dating apps