The Dating Divide : Race and Desire in the Era of Online Romance

**The data behind a distinct form of racism in online dating.** __The Dating Divide__ is the first comprehensive look at "digital-sexual racism," a distinct form of racism that is mediated and amplified through the impersonal and anonymous context of online dating. Drawing on large-scale behavioral data from a mainstream dating website, extensive archival research, and more than seventy-five in-depth interviews with daters of diverse racial backgrounds and sexual identities, Curington, Lundquist, and Lin illustrate how the seemingly open space of the internet interacts with the loss of social inhibition in cyberspace contexts, fostering openly expressed forms of sexual racism that are rarely exposed in face-to-face encounters. __The Dating Divide__ is a fascinating look at how a contemporary conflux of individualization, consumerism, and the proliferation of digital technologies has given rise to a unique form of gendered racism in the era of swiping right—or left. The internet is often heralded as an equalizer, a seemingly level playing field, but the digital world also acts as an extension of and platform for the insidious prejudices and divisive impulses that affect social politics in the "real" world. Shedding light on how every click, swipe, or message can be linked to the history of racism and courtship in the United States, this compelling study uses data to show the racial biases at play in digital dating spaces.

The data behind a distinct form of racism in online dating.

The Dating Divide is the first comprehensive look at "digital-sexual racism," a distinct form of racism that is mediated and amplified through the impersonal and anonymous context of online dating. Drawing on large-scale behavioral data from a mainstream dating website, extensive archival research, and more than seventy-five in-depth interviews with daters of diverse racial backgrounds and sexual identities, Curington, Lundquist, and Lin illustrate how the seemingly open space of the internet interacts with the loss of social inhibition in cyberspace contexts, fostering openly expressed forms of sexual racism that are rarely exposed in face-to-face encounters. The Dating Divide is a fascinating look at how a contemporary conflux of individualization, consumerism, and the proliferation of digital technologies has given rise to a unique form of gendered racism in the era of swiping right—or left.

The internet is often heralded as an equalizer, a seemingly level playing field, but the digital world also acts as an extension of and platform for the insidious prejudices and divisive impulses that affect social politics in the "real" world. Shedding light on how every click, swipe, or message can be linked to the history of racism and courtship in the United States, this compelling study uses data to show the racial biases at play in digital dating spaces.

The data behind a distinct form of racism in onlinedating The Dating Divide is the firstcomprehensive look at "digital-sexual racism," a distinct form ofracism that is mediated and amplified through the impersonal andanonymous context of online dating. Drawing on large-scalebehavioral data from a mainstream dating website, extensivearchival research, and more than seventy-five in-depth interviewswith daters of diverse racial backgrounds and sexual identities,Curington, Lundquist, and Lin illustrate how the seemingly openspace of the internet interacts with the loss of social inhibitionin cyberspace contexts, fostering openly expressed forms of sexualracism that are rarely exposed in face-to-face encounters. TheDating Divide is a fascinating look at how a contemporaryconflux of individualization, consumerism, and the proliferation ofdigital technologies has given rise to a unique form of genderedracism in the era of swiping right-or left.

The internet is often heralded as an equalizer, a seeminglylevel playing field, but the digital world also acts as anextension of and platform for the insidious prejudices and divisiveimpulses that affect social politics in the "real" world. Sheddinglight on how every click, swipe, or message can be linked to thehistory of racism and courtship in the United States, thiscompelling study uses data to show the racial biases at play indigital dating spaces.

"The Dating Divide is the first comprehensive look at "digital-sexual racism," a distinct form of racism that is mediated and amplified through the impersonal and anonymous context of online dating. Drawing from large-scale behavioral data from a mainstream dating website, extensive archival research, and seventy-five in-depth interviews with daters of diverse racial backgrounds and sexual identities, Curington, Lundquist, and Lin illustrate how the seemingly open space of the internet interacts with the loss of social inhibition in cyberspace contexts, fostering openly expressed forms of sexual racism that are rarely exposed in face-to-face courtship markets. The Dating Divide is a fascinating look at how a contemporary conflux of individualization, consumerism, and the proliferation of digital technologies have given rise to a unique form of sexual racism in the era of swiping right-or left. The internet can be an equalizer, a seemingly level playing field, but the digital world also acts as an extension of and platform for the insidious prejudices and divisive impulses that affect social politics in the "real" world. Shedding light on how every click, swipe, or message can be linked to the history of racism and courtship in the United States, this compelling study uses data to show the racial biases at play in digital dating spaces"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 The Dating Divide 4 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 8 List of Tables and Figures 10 Introduction: Dear Tinder, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 14 1. Where Hate Trumps Love: The Birth and Legacy of Antimiscegenation in the United States 37 2. From the Back Porch to the Computer Screen: The Rise of Choice in Courtship 58 3. New Rules? Gendered Online Engagement 82 4. A Privilege Endures: Dating While White in the Era of Online Dating 95 5. The Unique Disadvantage: Dating While Black 127 6. The Asian Experience: Resistance and Complicity 157 7. “Hey, You’re Latin. Do You Like to Dance?”: The Privilege and Disadvantage of Latino/a Daters 181 8. Postracial Multiracialism: A Challenge to the White Racial Frame? 204 Conclusion: Abolishing the Dating Divide 227 Acknowledgments 242 Appendix: Data and Methods 244 Interviews 254 Notes 258 Bibliography 280 Index 310