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theses

Prior to the emergence of Tinder in 2013, discussion of the viability of online dating centered on the failure of online dating platforms to attract heterosexual women. Before the era of the screen, however, gay men, facing down laws and social norms which rendered their desires publicly unspeakable, had been meeting through other virtual means, phone chat lines and online chat rooms, for decades. The same year that Tinder debuted, Grindr, the first dating app for gay men, had already amassed over four million users worldwide, a quarter of whom used the app on a daily basis. Two surveys, conducted in 2014 and 2015, found that 70% of gay men had dated someone they met online. This collection of stories, set primarily in Richmond, Virginia, asks what these men see reflected when they place themselves before the screen? Perhaps, like the protagonists of “Reunion” or “DeirdreMomLove1947,” they see a force of reconciliation. Or perhaps, as in “The Weirding Path” or “Adornments,” they are lured in by the potential the app holds for deceit, for retribution. At its core, this collection asks readers to consider a philosophical question: when our romantic and sexual identities are mediated by a platform where we can say anything, or be anyone—who do we become?

ETD_7829

M.F.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Bryan Collins

doi:10.7282/T3RV0R30

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.