The Bumble dating app puts the kibosh to the shame of the body.
The company announced Wednesday that the app would begin launching trapped members with “a language that can be considered fatophobic, capable, racist, coloristic, homophobic, or transphobic.”
The new restrictions will apply to direct messages from users, as well as those with profiles that openly discriminate between different body types.
“Body embarrassment is not acceptable in the Bumble app or outside,” a Bumble statement says. “For those who may not know it, embarrassing the body means forcing your opinion on a ‘good body’ to others.”
An algorithm has been created to mark words and phrases associated with “body shame,” which has then been evaluated by a live moderator, according to The Guardian. Notices will then be sent to users in their first offense, along with sensitivity training materials, before being fully banned.
The Austin, Texas-based company wants to promote “a friendlier, more respectful and more equal space on the Internet,” said Naomi Walkland, who heads Bumble’s overseas marketing division. “The key to this has always been our policy of zero tolerance for racist discourse and motivated by hatred, abusive behavior and harassment.”
A 2016 survey by WooPlus, a large dating app for women, found that 71% of 1,000 users who called themselves “curvy” had also been embarrassed by men in other dating apps. More generally, a 2020 Pew study found that 33% of women who used dating apps had been called an offensive name by another user.
Fans of the women-focused Bumble app, which urges users to “make the first move,” say the move is another reason they love the company.
“I’m very interested to see how it works, and I’m also very happy to see it launch,” he tweeted to the music journalist Courtney E. Smith.
Some ask you to take note of other dating apps.
“Maybe @Grindr could follow the same. This app is a repository of toxicity to the body and race.” dit a fan of change.