Meet markets: Grindr and the politics of objectifying others

Abstract

Critics have faulted Grindr and similar apps for commodifying social relations; instead of treating potential partners as ‘human beings’, Grindr users are thought to treat each other as objects to be consumed and disposed of at whim. Focusing on Tim Dean’s critique of online cruising in his book Unlimited Intimacy, this article interrogates the assumption that objectification is politically toxic and proposes that it may have something politically useful to offer. Inspired by the ‘antisocial thesis’ in queer theory, and in particular work by Leo Bersani, the article argues that being treated as an object usefully preserves a gap between oneself and one’s potential partner, thwarting the desire to know, speak for, and act in the interest of others – a tendency that may appear altruistic but has annihilative ends. The article frames this gap in terms of both mediation and market relations.

Keywords

Alterity commodification difference Grindr Leo Bersani markets objectification otherness queer theory social relations Tim Dean

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