Changing Geographies of Intimacy: A Study on FemaleTinder Users in İstanbul

Abstract

This study discusses the changing geographies of intimacy by focusing on the experiences of female Tinder users in Istanbul. Within the scope of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 women in Istanbul. Based on these interviews, the flows of how women use Tinder have been created and the locations in which the app is used have been identified. The study revealed that women use this mobile application secretly and they do not actively use it in the neighborhoods where they live and work. The way women look for relationships varies considerably and they choose among varying types of relationships. Tinder allows women to rapidly expand their pool of potential partners and eliminate other intermediaries and their social supervision in building relationships. These facts indicate that the geographies of intimacy and the gender relationships within these geographies have started to change for some women.

“It's like a gamble, anything could happen”: Women navigating safety and agency in online dating in urban Turkey

“…The findings showed that the women strived to manage the risk of stigmatization by keeping their app use private in some social circles. This is consistent with previous research showing that prevalent stigmas around online dating create concerns over social disapproval and the loss of one's reputation, more notably among women users in non-Western contexts, such as Turkey (Cöbek & Ergin, 2021;Deniz, 2020) and China (Chan, 2018). Furthermore, the women tried to avert judgment by choosing well-educated and employed men with seemingly more liberal and egalitarian views and arranging in-person dates in less conservative and more crowded neighborhoods.…”

“…Accordingly, there is social stigma around women's use of dating apps in Turkey, since their use is perceived as exclusively indicating a motive for sexual encounters (Cöbek & Ergin, 2021). Thus, while women in urban as well as conservative parts of Turkey use social media and online dating platforms to experience romance, mostly before marriage, they also strive to keep their app use hidden from family and community in their neighborhoods and workplaces (Cöbek & Ergin, 2021;Deniz, 2020), and to preserve a moral and decent public image (Costa, 2016). Lastly, it is important to note that traditional gender norms and roles in Turkey still influence dating relations.…”

Online Dating in Asia: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Despite the high proportion of males who engage in sexual activity with other men (MSM), Luo et al (2019) discovered that roughly 17% of them were previously been married and 26.3% had previously slept with a woman. Deniz (2020) reported that some women were using dating apps secretly and not near their workplaces or homes.…”

“…To sum up, the benefits of using dating apps included increased dating lifestyle and social awareness (Bien et al, 2015;Chakraborty, 2019;Chan, 2018); Chan, 2019a;Chan, 2019b;Deniz, 2020;Liu et al, 2021;Olivo Quiroga & Shang-Yung, 2018;Tang, 2017;Xia et al, 2013;Xia et al, 2014;Xiao & Qian, 2020). Some dating sites were used as safe spaces to talk with users of same-sex orientation and thus helped in fighting against stigmatization (Bien et al, 2015;Boonchutima & Kongchan, 2017;Luo et al, 2019;Tang, 2017).…”

The World of Images in Dating Apps: “Dictatorship of Clichés” vs. Naturality

“…İlk çalışmaların 1990'larda yapılmaya başlandığı ama Tinder'ın popülaritesi ve flört uygulamalarının kullanımının yaygınlaşmasıyla âdeta bir patlama yaşayan çevrimiçi flört literatürü, beş temel konuyu incelemektedir : a) bireylerin flört uygulamalarını kullanma motivasyonları (Alam vd., 2018;Bryant ve 4 Sheldon, 2017;Newett vd., 2017;Pozsar vd., 2018;Ranzini ve Lutz, 2017;Sumter vd., 2017), b) kullanıcıların eş seçimleri (Başar, 2010;Felmlee ve Kreager, 2017;Hitsch vd., 2010;McGloin ve Denes, 2018;Peters ve Salzsieder, 2018;Su ve Hu, 2019), c) benlik sunumları (Davis ve Fingerman, 2016;Duguay, 2017;Gewirtz-Meydan ve Ayalon, 2018;Tanrıöver ve Sunam, 2017), d) bu platformların ilişkilere, flört kültürü ve deneyimlerine etkileri (Albury vd., 2017;Aydoğan, 2020;Deniz, 2020;Illouz, 2019;Krüger ve Spilde, 2018;Vuzharov, 2019), e) flört teknolojilerinin bireyler üzerindeki olumsuz psikolojik etkileri (Hess ve Flores, 2018;Paasonen vd., 2019;Shaw, 2016;Whitty, 2015;Zerach, 2016).…”