Mind, Body and Boundaries: Self-Presentation on the Nordic LGBTQ Online Dating Scene

Abstract

Online dating is continually on the rise and nowadays a widely used and accepted way to find different kinds of companionship. This relatively new interpersonal phenomenon has provided an especially important virtual space for non-heterosexuals. Previous research on behaviors and trends on dating communities online for sexual minorities has focused primarily on sites for gay men in Anglo-Saxon countries. The purpose of the present study is to examine self-presentations on the Nordic LGBTQ online dating scene and possible gender-dependent differences in self-presentation. The Nordic countries are commonly perceived as progressive in issues regarding gender equality and LGBTQ rights. The countries on average also have low population density with large rural areas and consequently limited scenes for non-heterosexuals. A testimony of this is the study's selected dating site, which is based in Sweden but encompasses the neighboring countries and markets itself as a Nordic meeting venue. The present study embarks on new territory within psychology-, gender-, and queer research by examining self-presentations on a mixed-gender LGBTQ dating site, situated in the supposedly liberal Nordic countries. Based on qualitative and quantitative data from a stratified sample of 716 cis-gendered, predominantly Swedish online dating profiles, on a wellestablished Nordic online dating site for non-heterosexual men and women, statistical calculations and a thematic analysis (TA) were executed. The findings show that central self-presentations concern mind versus body, lust and longings, and boundaries, where gender frequently functions as the dividing line. Women self-present more through personality and romantic longings compared to men, who to a higher degree emphasizes body, and lust. Self-presentation is also expressed through resistance against boundary-breaking contact on the site. The boundaries that are guarded regard age, anti-racism and most pronounced-boundaries against male harassment of nonheterosexual women. The implications of self-presentation, possible discrimination and misrepresentation on the Nordic LGBTQ online dating scene are discussed.

A conditional embrace—Swedish LGBTQ+ spaces through the eyes of ethnic minority non-heterosexual individuals

“…Again, it is important to underline that the problems revealed in the Swedish non-heterosexual world are not isolated from other arenas of life or other geographical areas. The participants' testimonies are in line with previous findings on ethnic minorities' struggles with the whiteness ideal racism in predominantly white non-heterosexual arenas (e.g., Cyrus, 2017;Ghabrial, 2017;Lim and Hewitt, 2018;Kehl, 2019;Patel, 2019), and their experiences of racism and exotification online echoes previous findings on Nordic LGBTQ+ online dating sites and apps (Shield, 2016;Svensson, 2016;Miller, 2019). Internationally, many dating apps for non-heterosexual men are known for being sexualizing in their nature (Gudelunas, 2012;Hall et al, 2012;Miller, 2015;Tziallas, 2015;Parisi and Comunello, 2016), an experience shared by the male participants in the present study.…”

“…The study focuses on ethnic minority non-heterosexual individuals within a supposedly open-minded context: Swedish non-heterosexual spaces. From the existing international literature, it is clear that the LGBTQ+ world is both a place for the celebration of diversity but at the same time, nonetheless, mirrors mainstream society and as such is steeped in discriminatory attitudes and actions, including racism, misogyny, and ageism (Phua and Kaufman, 2003;Heaphy et al, 2004;Wood, 2004;Han, 2007;Ward, 2008;Miller, 2015Miller, , 2019Robinson, 2016;Grollman, 2018;Siverskog et al, 2019). In the "Western" non-heterosexual world, gay has often been equaled with "white, " directly or indirectly prompting a whiteness ideal, which exposes ethnic minority non-heterosexual individuals to racial discrimination and expectations of adaption (Han, 2007;Velez et al, 2015;Cyrus, 2017;Ghabrial, 2017;Patel, 2019).…”

Between the dog and the wolf – An interpretative phenomenological analysis of bicultural, sexual minority people’s lived experiences

“…There exists a scarcity of literature on intersections of sexuality, ethnicity, identity and wellbeing, in general, and from a Scandinavian perspective in particular (Clark et al, 2021;Miller, 2019;Miller, 2022).…”

Predicting travel intentions using self-disclosure, trust and intimacy: the case of Tinder users during COVID-19

“…Tinder users construct lasting impressions through continuous self-disclosure which leads to relationships (Ward, 2016). Despite emergent findings in Tinder Tourism literature suggesting that some users had no intention of meeting their online counterparts (James et al, 2019), Tinder is still considered as a temporary space where users interact before they gain motivation to conduct physical encounters with other users (Kallis, 2020;Miller, 2019;Timmermans and De Caluw e, 2017;Ward, 2017) or travel to the other user's destination (Leurs and Hardy, 2019). In this vein, this paper aims to investigate how users who remain at home amid global lockdowns develop travel intentions because of in-app interactions.…”