“Tindersluts” and “Tinderellas”: Examining the Digital Affordances Shaping the (Hetero)Sexual Scripts of Young Womxn on Tinder

Abstract

This study examines how the digital affordances of Tinder shape the (hetero)sexual scripts of young womxn. Findings indicate that while Tinder alleviates the boundaries of an on-campus hookup culture, the app has yet to completely rewrite the sexual and romantic scripts of young adults. Instead, participants describe the development of a hybrid hookup script. This multilevel script reintegrates traditional dating scripts, which are absent in an on-campus hookup culture, while maintaining the expectation of a hookup. Yet, not all participants enacted the hybrid hookup script to the same extent. Facing a lack of same-race matches and compounding racist and sexist interactions, womxn of color were overrepresented among those who opted out altogether. Overall, by situating this study within a broader nexus of scholarship on gendered sexual scripts and technological affordances, results offer a new interpretation of young adult sexuality that accounts for the sociotechnical mechanisms shaping contemporary (hetero)sexual scripts.