Why Tinder Is Bad News for Women and What Can Be Done

Nancy Jo Sales’ disturbing 2015 Vanity Fair article, “ Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse,’ “ painted a troubling picture of the way men treated women on the online site. Why is an article from 2015 important? Because it appears that the online dating situation is only getting worse. Sadly, Pew Research reported in 2020 that online dating has gotten harder in the last 10 years. Guess who it’s worse for? Women are much more likely than men to say dating is harder (55% vs. 39%). The biggest reason: more physical and emotional risk. Women are twice as likely to report it. (26% vs. 13%).

The Tinder hookup culture was on display in Sales’ article. She described in graphic detail how the men in 2015 treated women as options rather than priorities. If a woman said “no” to casual sex, there were hundreds more on a man’s app to contact. Men weren’t required to commit, so women felt they must leave their comfort zone to find a partner. Her stories include men bragging to each other about their conquests, and women resigning themselves to poor treatment. Many still wonder if Tinder is only a hookup app.

In a world where dating apps have become breeding grounds for sexual predators, Tinder has found itself under intense scrutiny again. However, Tinder is now making an audacious claim, declaring that the protection and safety of…