300 words essay and 100 words peer review

by Emma Schaefer-Whittall - (She/Her/Hers) Tuesday, May 26, 2020, 10:04 PM

 

Initially, I was baffled by Hobbs, Owen, and Gerber’s assumption that Bauman’s idea of the “liquefaction of love” does not serve as an example of people’s feelings and inclinations towards romance in the online dating scene. I was so sure that dating apps encourage polygmy to a greater extent than what was proven in Hobbs et al., but the truth is reported numbers show that the attitude towards seeking a monogamous relationship through online dating is approximately the same (14% are ‘less inclined’ and 14% are ‘more inclined’). In respect to the idea of marketplace dating, critics are concerned that dating apps commodicize bodies in a “marketplace of romantic options”, but Hobbs et al. clearly shows that the physical attraction-based mechanism of “matching” is simply the efficient and advanced version of the in-person decision to begin a conversation in hopes of pursuing a romantic connection based solely on physical attraction (Hobbs et al. 2017: 282).

To further my interest in the themes of commodification of sex and the relationship marketplace, I regarded Emily Setty’s piece on youth sexting culture with extreme delight. Technology, in this sense, serves as the mode to encourage a form of relationship currency in which the exchange of explicit pictures or messages is seen as an “expected part of youth courtship and dating rituals” (Setty 2018: 588). For the most part, the need for Setty’s women-centralized analysis speaks to the risk and shame that has become inseparable for women partaking in sexting. However, I did disagree with one of Setty’s points. She mentions that the pleasure described by the young women’s experiences was more times than not rooted in the accomplishment of pleasing the recipient. This defines pleasure as male-focused and uniform in its definition. It denies pleasure outside of sexual stimulation and doesn’t account for the complex variety of ways in which biological comfort takes form. I do agree that the instances described by Setty lean towards an unhealthy power dynamic in which the “exchange” is met with the recipient receiving their desire but the sender is rendered powerless and oftentimes diminished in their sense of self worth. But, I do believe that technology has given women more power and narratives like Skye-Rose prove that.