From “masc for masc” to “musc for musc,” prejudice masquerading as preference has become all too common on gay dating apps. Episode One of Grindr’s first web series What the Flip explored the racism that rears its ugly head in digital spaces, and this week’s episode takes on another big issue: body shaming.
According to a study out of Yale, weightism exceeds racism as the country’s most widespread -ism, in large part due to the social acceptability of weight bias and lack of any legal protections against weight-based discrimination. To see how body shaming plays out in-app, we had two guys switch Grindr profiles for a day to experience things on the flipside.
As usual, fabulous host Billy Francesca was on hand to solicit additional “data” on the topic from the always-insightful bar patrons of West Hollywood. Watch now and check your -isms at the door.
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“What the Flip?” is a five part series, with new episodes dropping on INTO every other Thursday.
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